Quotes from Sibel Kekilli

When I act, I try to understand the character, why she's behaving like that.

It's not my passion to wake up at 6:00 in the morning to do my exercises. Sometimes I really hate it. I'm lazy.

If I prepare myself for a character, for a role, I always try to understand her.

Every time when I start preparing my character for a movie, I always try to make up and create my own background story for the role in order to fill it with life.

I have a coach, but I'm not theater-trained or a technical actor.

Acting for me is like a ping-pong game. That's the secret of acting. When you have a really good actor, I always want to be as good as he is or she is.

It's not like I love dragons! Only on 'Game of Thrones!' Our dragons are amazing, and they look really real. But I think after 'Game of Thrones,' I won't be a fantasy fan.

I have the feeling that you can get older here in Germany, or in Europe, but in Hollywood, you have to look perfect all the time. So it's really hard.

I really think that Muslim people should stop raising their boys and girls that way. They instill a macho culture right from the start of childhood. And if you have never learned to treat girls and women respectfully, you will never be able to act differently later on than the men in your culture, and in your family. That's fact.

I think it's so hard to get really, really strong parts where the actress can act. It's rare.

Actors travel a lot and work long hours, and sometimes you eat at odd hours, so I have to work out to keep my weight at the same level.

I wasn't a competitor. I would play outside with my friends, but not really anything like ballet or soccer. I tried to play soccer, and it went badly.

Sooner or later, directors in Germany will start casting without regard to where a person is from. It shouldn't matter anymore.

Because it was my first time acting in English, everyone on set was difficult to understand. It was a mix of Scottish, Irish, British and American English. To understand a Scottish accent or an Irish accent was so hard.

It's hard when you're not a native speaker, because everyone's laughing, and you're like, 'What was that? Can you tell me again?'

If you move to Canada, after a few years you call yourself Canadian. In Germany, it's difficult to belong.

I do some weightlifting and use medicine balls as well for balance for my core. I want my stomach to look flat. I have to.

It's so rare, actors who are not vain.

Every woman actress is somewhat vain, and I am, too. You really have to take care of yourself.

I'd like to say it is only average people who revel in the mistakes of others.

A lot of people in Islamic countries are taking it as a personal offense when people are talking about the violence against women in their culture.