Quotes from Brit Marling

I think what's so attractive about acting is that you get to live several lifetimes in one.

I feel like I'm a much better person when I'm developing my imagination and my innocence and my vulnerability. I like that version of me better than the version where I'm just working on my analytical mind.

A couple of compromises in a row and suddenly you're very far way from the person you thought you were.

Any man worth his salt loves a feminist. Only men who are afraid of the feminine in themselves are afraid of women.

One of the great pleasures of acting is surrendering to someone else's point of view of the world - living inside a character and a story that never would have come out of your mind or heart.

I think we're always looking for an excuse to connect.

I think sometimes big budget means explosions! CGI! CGI, the possibilities are so limitless that it begins to be impractical.

I believe in what science fiction can do, which is it can set up simple rules that it has to follow to try to illuminate something about the present that is somewhat invisible to us.

We put limitations on the way that we think about things, on ourselves, think about all the boxes we live in, male or female, you're this age, that age, this is your job, this is not your job, everything is about getting boxed in.

When I go into a pitch room and I'm pitching something with a writing partner, everybody tends to look at the guy, even if I'm doing a lot of the talking.

The litmus test for whether I want to take on a role or not is usually fear. If I'm afraid of it, then I want to do it.

Life and death and birth is this fantastic mystery that we cannot fully grasp.

I think I am looking as an actor to find ways to push myself into places I haven't been before as a human being.

Nothing seemed as scary as waking up at 40 and realizing that I had not lived a very courageous life.

So at some point you realize that your life is not just going to start one day in the future, that you're living it.

I didn't understand how you could be an actor if you didn't also study philosophy and study political science, astronomy. And also just go out and live life and have experiences.

Life is beautiful because it doesn't last.

Modern life has gotten so strange, we all get 150 emails and text messages a day, and it's hard when things are moving that quickly to keep that sense of wonder about being alive.

A lot of people think, 'I'll give acting or poetry or filmmaking a try. And if it doesn't work out I'll go get a law degree, do something else that's more practical.' For me I went the reverse way. I lived the back-up plan.

I think I realized very early on that you can spend a lot of time constructing a really perfect scene in final draft and just end up throwing it away because you didn't figure out that mathematics of the story first.

One of my favorite stories growing up was 'A Wrinkle in Time'. I loved that book.

For some reason, I have a very strange conception of time. I am constantly hovering at some overview, more macro.

If you play it safe every time, then you're missing the best part of acting. You haven't learned anything about your humanity.

The more time you invest in something, potentially, the deeper the emotional impact of the climax. It's true of relationships, too.