Quotes from Rose Byrne

TV is very much a producer and writer or creator-driven machine in the States. And I'm the kind of actor that needs to be pushed and have someone on my case a little bit, so I suffer from that.

I see myself more as a character actress than a celebrity.

Australians, we've got a very healthy sense of humor in us. God forbid we take ourselves too seriously so it's kind of a cultural trait.

The good thing about having a kid is you don't think about that as much. Like when I turned 30, for instance, that was much more momentous. Forty is particularly great for a woman. It's a big thing.

I often do very serious roles, but really I am a big clown.

Art, a book, a painting, a song, can definitely inspire change, whether it's a small change or a big change but you know there's novels I've read or a scene in a film that I've seen where I definitely inspired something and made a change or addressed an issue in my life or done something cliche like make a phone call.

I used to go to rave parties, too, but I was never savvy with techno.

The British are so funny. It's like they can't believe I lived in Hackney. 'You could live in Bondi Beach. Why would you want to live in 'Ackney?' But Hackney's fantastic. I'm serious. There are so many artists there. I loved the markets, the parks, the pubs, the diversity. It was a cultural melting-pot.

All forms of contact are good: letters, parcels, e-mails - I've been trying to get a Webcam for my computer, but I'm such a Luddite.

I've always thought of myself as more of a character actress. I've tried to do different things, but I've always been under the radar and that's how I like it. I've been really blessed to work this long and I just hope I continue to get better and better and better and better.

Here in L.A. the standard of beauty is kind of ridiculous. I want to be doing this when I'm in my fifties and sixties and this isn't what I'm going to look like.

Anything can happen. Anything happens all the time.

The actor's life, but also the Australian's life. We're wanderers. We like to walk about - we're curious people. I have felt that since I was a teenager.

What's weird about the cinema business is that you have to have a thick skin while remaining vulnerable as an artist. It comes with time. You get dumped, your heart gets broken.

As you get older, you just lose that confidence and narcissism you have in your twenties. You realize you have less time on the planet, and you become cynical and less confident.

My parents were so relaxed by the time I was growing up that I got away with a lot more.

You see someone on the street wearing an outfit and then it's on the cover of a magazine. I love. But, you know, I'm Australian, so I'm not too flashy or glitzy.

At a certain point, I got into the older, cooler crowd, and they listened to hip-hop. I was desperately trying to fit in.

I'm in love with the city. You can impress an Australian with a city, but you can't impress them with a beach.

I loved performing; I was always trying to impress my siblings by being a clown. I think that came from being the runt of the litter.

There's a lot of intensity when you're on a set. And then it just goes away and no one's giving you attention or flooding you with compliments.

I liked the Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest and Cypress Hill.

I love TV as a viewer.

The physical environment of L.A. is really beautiful. It's actually kinda fun, too, if you're working. It's just not really fun if you're not working and you don't know anybody.