Quotes from Lea Seydoux

There are no nail salons in Paris - it is very expensive to do a manicure. I sometimes get one done.

If I do too many takes, I'm too self-conscious. I think I'm better in first scenes.

I think that I'm shy and I judge myself. But at the same time, I also have big contradictions. I can be sometimes sure of myself as well. I'm not always fragile and vulnerable. I can feel tough and strong.

Whether you're in a blockbuster or an art film, you have to be able to adapt.

I would love to take more risks - have pink hair - but it doesn't look right on me.

I love challenge. I love to be afraid before a film, before acting. I think always I want to experience fear. I've become addicted to this feeling.

For me, cinema's like a language - everyone has their own form of it.

In America, you don't have to be weak, you have to be strong.

I don't really wear makeup every day. I feel like being an actress - we wear a lot of makeup - but when I am not working, I need to let my face breathe and be very comfortable.

When a director you admire says that he wants to work with you, it's always a compliment, very good for your ego.

I'm not reading reviews and critics. I don't care. I guess I'm still a little on my own planet.

This is why I became an actress. So that people will take care of me. To be an actress is a refuge. You are taken everywhere, stay in wonderful hotels, everyone looks after you.

I love it when people have pleasure working and when there is respect. That's what I love.

I don't have any preconceived ideas of myself. I just take things as they come.

I see society as something dangerous, and you have to save yourself from the rules. I think acting is the way I save myself.

I see that people now recognize me in the street. But it doesn't change me in the depth of my being.

I like a man who can respect a woman. When he's real attentive, I think that is very manly. To respect a woman is divine.

It's true that French are not very sophisticated in the sense that they don't dress up for dinners. They are not like Americans, where they are always perfect - the girls are not very sporty; they don't take care of themselves as much as Americans, who always have very white teeth and are so fit.

Male directors always project their own desire of women - how they want a woman to dress, to do her hair. With a woman director, it's more a projection of herself.

Music was my first love, but it was difficult for me. It's something that I really love, but I didn't feel that I was so good at it. I can sing well, but I'm not a great singer. When I sing, I don't feel I'm expressing all the emotions.

I find it hard to be joyful on screen because I'm so tense.

In America it's good to show people you are fine, you're healthy, you're sporty, you're happy to do things, to live. And in France it's more like you don't have to show you have success.

My proudest moment is when I'm part of a good film, when people are touched by it.

I found it hard to express myself in the world. I was very shy. I'm still very shy. But also, when I was a child, I could get very... I had this violence... I still get angry. But I don't break things; I'm not hysterical.