Ellen Barkin quotes

Ellen Barkin is an American actress known for her intense performances in film, television, and stage. She gained critical acclaim for her roles in movies such as "Diner" and "The Big Easy". She continues to be recognized for her versatility and powerful screen presence. Here are 41 of her quotes:

Men who love their mothers treat women wonderfully. And they have enormous respect for women.

Ellen Barkin

I'm just curious, who's more fit to raise a child? A loving committed same-sex couple or an unmarried 15-year-old with no income and really no skills to parent?

Ellen Barkin

I have huge hands and feet. I'm 5'6" and wear a size 10 shoe.

Ellen Barkin

You've got a movie where the pro-choice family gives their daughter no choice. The pro-life family murders. What seems to be the good mother, the kind of hippie painter, sweet and cute mother has no love for her daughter really.

Ellen Barkin

Acting is a matter of giving away secrets.

Ellen Barkin

I have no problem being 53. Why would I want to be 35 again? I want to discover who I am in my 50s. And if I tried too hard to look younger, it would seem that I was uncomfortable with who I am, wouldn't it?

Ellen Barkin

I studied acting for 10 years before I went for an audition. I studied with Lee Strasberg and Actors Studio teachers, and went to the High School of Performing Arts.

Ellen Barkin

I wish I had a little more ambition. But then what would I do? Turn down more roles with more vehemence? Me no likey worky.

Ellen Barkin

The way Hollywood portrays mothers - you're either all good and saint-like, or you're all bad. And I think the real honesty of motherhood is not given a voice in movies. I miss that as an audience member.

Ellen Barkin

There is a certain androgyny to my appeal.

Ellen Barkin

No more bare bodies in film scenes for me. For my children's sake, I must stop. The other kids at school keep throwing it up to my children, and they are not kind.

Ellen Barkin

When I played Leonardo DiCaprio's mother, they liked that Leo had very hooded eyes and a rounded nose with a ball. They said, They look like they could be mother and son.

Ellen Barkin

I'd never say I'll never have a facelift, but I'm way too scared of looking like a different person. I have no philosophical or political position on plastic surgery; I just don't want to look crazy. And I don't like not being able to tell how old someone is: It's creepy.

Ellen Barkin

I guess if you're lucky enough not to have to pay your rent, then you or I take much more seriously the kind of work that I do, what it takes for me to leave two teenagers of my own and six stepchildren and a husband and four grandchildren.

Ellen Barkin

Would you just strap some toe shoes on and dance 'Swan Lake?' No. Would you just put a violin in your hand and - ? No. I felt that way about acting, and I was taught to feel that way. I didn't come to it on my own.

Ellen Barkin

I would love to do a television show in New York City.

Ellen Barkin

There's no slow build anymore where you get a little part, then you get a little better part, then a better part, until one day your agent calls you us and says, 'guess what, you're a movie star,' and you say, 'Thank you!'

Ellen Barkin

I like being married. I like taking care of people, having someone to make dinner for.

Ellen Barkin

I guess I worry about weird existential things, like how do we spend our final act. This is a very emotional question. I can't answer it without crying. I think, You're 56 years old, what did you do? You raised two good kids. What am I going to do now that is as meaningful as that? I don't know the answer yet.

Ellen Barkin

I am to a fault an introspective person. But I am not a reflective person - except for a big mistake, and then I really think about it.

Ellen Barkin

But one of the hardest things for me to do was to access anger. I could do it on stage. But when I did it on film it was hard for me. That probably has to do with the intimacy of film. And my own personal issues with expressing anger. So I had to learn how to do that.

Ellen Barkin

My first movie was 'Diner.' My second movie was 'Tender Mercies.' I did really good work.

Ellen Barkin