Quotes

Samantha says that kissing ex-boyfriend Christian Slater in Broken Arrow (1996) was "like kissing your brother".

[About her role in The Mists of Avalon (2001), directed by German-born Uli Edel, specifically the infamous "threesome" scene]: The guys have on boxers, but I've just got, like, a piece of nude stretchy material taped to my breasts and my legs. And then suddenly Uli yells out of the darkness, "Remember you're doing it for ze kingdom, for ze kingdom!"

[on River Phoenix] River's death was a life changing experience for me. We all know that when anyone dies, it makes us look at life differently. Seeing someone so young and loving and full of life crumble and dies changed all my priorities. You know, it made me see what is really important and what isn't. Ultimately, I have really had to learn to laugh at life, too. Otherwise, it can all become too much.

(On River Phoenix) "The nicest memory I have of him is when we went down to his family's property in Costa Rica, and we'd eat these mangoes for breakfast. River had them dripping all over him. When he ate, he ate with his hands. For me, he'll always be that beautiful, drippy mess."

(On River Phoenix) I feel blessed to have worked with him and to have known him. He challenged me as an actress, he was always surprising and startlingly honest. He was an all too fleeting presence in my life, a beautiful young man. Who will always be in my heart.

[about having experienced strange reactions to on-the-job nudity in the past] People don't know whether to look at you or talk to you. And you feel... fine! People are talking about baseball stats, and you're just going, 'OK, you can be normal now!'.

We have such an uptight relationship with nudity in America, and I think that's really unfortunate.

My mom always said, 'You got birthing hips'. Sometimes I wish they were a little smaller. But I don't want to look like a boy, you know?

[[On working with John Woo on "Broken Arrow"]]: "You know, I remember he was a very soft-spoken man, which is interesting for a gentleman who at the time was known for making some of the most violent movies. He's an incredibly gentle soul. Very sweet. I remember being in awe of just watching the way he'd design things. One of his calling cards as a filmmaker was the use of interesting angles. There was one action sequence where he set up - I think - 8 or 10 cameras at the same time. That was exciting to see: His unique view of how to shoot something and put it together.

To work on Broken Arrow with John Woo was an extraordinary life experience as an actor; to see someone as masterful as Mr. Woo choreograph a sequence and have seven cameras going at the same time, cranked at different speeds and at different dutch angles, was breathtaking. It was ballet. It was a dance that was amazing.

[About working with John Woo on Broken Arrow]:I knew I was working with a master - I was in awe of him. To work with him and see how he used the camera, that's one of the things he's known for is his incredible angles and the way he cuts something together, so I was really excited to see what he would do and how he would construct scenes. There was one scene where we had eight cameras going at the same time and as an actor an action sequence like that is like a tight wire act - it's really exciting and it gives you a high. And he was incredibly sweet and soft-spoken man for someone who made some of the most violent movies of that time. But I loved John and I got to work with Christian again and John Travolta who I was also in awe of - that was a fun experience.

[on the filming production of the Super Mario Bros. movie] I don't think it's any secret that it was a troubled shoot. I would say Bob (Hoskins) didn't suffer fools gladly he was an artist, he could see the chaos swirling around the set and the lack of clarity. I think it's a rare thing to have two people directing a movie together well I certainly haven't experienced it. The production just took on a life of its own.