Quotes from Lake Bell

My happy place is holding my daughter and my husband in the same hug. It really is. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it. I consider it such a privilege, and I know that I'm lucky. I never want to take it for granted.

I hate bell peppers, which is annoying because they technically have my name all over them.

Before you have kids, you're like, 'I hope I don't die on this plane,' or, 'I hope I don't die crossing the street.' It's all me, me, me. 'What do I want to eat? What do I want to do?' But when you have a baby, and you would just happily stand in front of a bus to save her, it's a ferocious commitment to protecting your charge.

I think, in general, when you're doing comedy, you're having a good time regardless of the comedy table tennis that you're playing. I think you want that, too: you're rooting for two characters to be together, and you should feel that even when they're angry at each other, they're still in synch with each other.

I don't really enjoy working in TV, to be completely honest. Even though it's incredibly lucrative, I'm just terrified of not being satiated in a myriad of different ways.

I collect handkerchiefs. I know that's sort of old-timey, but my mom started the collection for me, and now I have a bunch. Basically, I have a myriad of beautiful handkerchiefs, and I carry them like a grandmother in my purse. And I opt for hankies in any situation.

My mother is a beautiful writer. Writing letters back and forth with her was an athletic endeavor, and it became something I really looked forward to.

At the end of the week, my husband and I do a leftovers dinner, where we have to use whatever's in the fridge. It's sort of a game.

The only thing I liked about Christmas as a kid was the gifts; otherwise, it just seemed like a stressful time.

Actually, in my own life I think I probably feign neuroses to be more interesting than I am.

I lean into all things that are a little off. I will always wear overalls. At this point, I find a way in most of my life to wear a jumpsuit or an overall, anything that's sort of like an all-in-one situation. I do that on the red carpet a lot.

There have been times where you do the red carpet in a certain shoe, and you go into the bathroom, you take that shoe off, you put the other shoe on from your purse, and then you walk around for the rest of the night.

Marriage is traditionally old-school in many respects. It is highly antiquated, and, that being said, beautiful.

What I think is sad about the rom-com genre is that it has adopted this pejorative title. I think the reason why there haven't been as many great ones is because we are fighting against the genre itself. If it is a romantic comedy then snuggle up to the fact that it can be a really earnest, refreshing feeling to feel good after a movie.

There are so many projects on my Dream List. I have so many things in the works, just like little ideas or collections of things or things I write or even just a title of something.

When you have a little one, you realize that your only mission in life is to protect this helpless, very sensitive creature. That is your charge. That's primal. I relate to that deeply.

The two things that hit you when you meet someone are, first, how they're visually put together and then, what they tell you with the tone of their voice - whether or not they're to be taken seriously.

Having children is not for everyone, but I think it's a beautiful lesson in it not being all about me anymore. It's a relief, in a way. It's like, this is her story now, and I'm her mom. It's a nice shift.

I am somebody who is constantly hungry to nibble on something.

I love fashion. I always have. When I was a kid, I was in almost full-on costumes when I went to school, and I've retained a bit of that in my adulthood.

'In A World...' changed my life a thousand per cent. I feel thankful that something I believed in so much - I love dialect, so I dedicated five years of my life to making a film about it - yielded such rewards. It led to 'Man Up,' as well as 'No Escape,' which comes out later this year... two movies where I am the female lead.

I find the female tragedy of insecurity to be hilarious. We get obsessed over issues like the tiny skin tags on our backs or that we're fat. You read one line in a magazine and it sends you into a tailspin.

I feel very comfortable with my trajectory because I do have a life; I can go on the subway, you know? And I've been able to do that my entire career, and I have friends who are huge movie stars and can't go on the subway, and I feel like that sucks.

Part of why I love being an actor is the opportunity to be able to go to distant lands and take on different worlds and concepts and pretend to take on different occupations and statuses.