Top 45 Quotes & Sayings by Lea Seydoux

It's a misogynistic world. It's because of what we ask of actresses. We ask them to be sensitive, fragile, desirable. And men? We ask them to be strong and virile.

When a director you admire says that he wants to work with you, it's always a compliment, very good for your ego.

If I do too many takes, I'm too self-conscious. I think I'm better in first scenes.

I was putting forward too much of myself when I was singing.

My proudest moment is when I'm part of a good film, when people are touched by it.

I found it hard to express myself in the world. I was very shy. I'm still very shy. But also, when I was a child, I could get very... I had this violence... I still get angry. But I don't break things; I'm not hysterical.

I like to learn things from other cultures. I'm curious. It's exciting to be in an unknown world, in a way.

I don't really wear makeup every day. I feel like being an actress - we wear a lot of makeup - but when I am not working, I need to let my face breathe and be very comfortable.

Male directors always project their own desire of women - how they want a woman to dress, to do her hair. With a woman director, it's more a projection of herself.

I think that I'm shy and I judge myself. But at the same time, I also have big contradictions. I can be sometimes sure of myself as well. I'm not always fragile and vulnerable. I can feel tough and strong.

This is why I became an actress. So that people will take care of me. To be an actress is a refuge. You are taken everywhere, stay in wonderful hotels, everyone looks after you.

As an actor, it's up to you to show that you can do something else. For me, the interesting actors don't always go where you expect to find them.

I love being in the States because there's an emphasis on work. People are enthusiastic. They put heart into things.

There are no nail salons in Paris - it is very expensive to do a manicure. I sometimes get one done.

I see that people now recognize me in the street. But it doesn't change me in the depth of my being.

I don't like modernity. I don't have television or the Internet at home. The Internet scares me. I can't drive a car.

Music was my first love, but it was difficult for me. It's something that I really love, but I didn't feel that I was so good at it. I can sing well, but I'm not a great singer. When I sing, I don't feel I'm expressing all the emotions.

I'm not reading reviews and critics. I don't care. I guess I'm still a little on my own planet.

Actually, I started to become an actress because I met someone who was just a friend and I found his life wonderful, I thought, Oh my god, you can travel, you're free, you can do what you want, you're the boss. And then I met an actor and I was in love with him.

For me, cinema's like a language - everyone has their own form of it.

I would love to take more risks - have pink hair - but it doesn't look right on me.

In America it's good to show people you are fine, you're healthy, you're sporty, you're happy to do things, to live. And in France it's more like you don't have to show you have success.

I see society as something dangerous, and you have to save yourself from the rules. I think acting is the way I save myself.

I love challenge. I love to be afraid before a film, before acting. I think always I want to experience fear. I've become addicted to this feeling.

I don't have any preconceived ideas of myself. I just take things as they come.

In America, they are very respectful of your work. People are not judgmental. They like difference - to be different is a force. In France, you have to be like the girl next door.

In America, you don't have to be weak, you have to be strong.

I like a man who can respect a woman. When he's real attentive, I think that is very manly. To respect a woman is divine.

It's true that French are not very sophisticated in the sense that they don't dress up for dinners. They are not like Americans, where they are always perfect - the girls are not very sporty; they don't take care of themselves as much as Americans, who always have very white teeth and are so fit.

Even in between takes, you emerge yourself. So you don't have a life for six months.

I find it hard to be joyful on screen because I'm so tense.

I've always felt that Americans are very in the moment. There's not so much melancholia and mystery as there is in France. Everything must be understood. Everything must be analyzed.

I'm not as beautiful as a model.

Whether you're in a blockbuster or an art film, you have to be able to adapt.

I think that nudity is beautiful. Sometimes it can be awful, but when it's beautiful? Cinema is the art about reality; it's art from reality. In French we say l'art de la realite. You show reality, so you have to show bodies.

I am about life. I surround myself with beautiful things. I work hard to have a better life. This job helps me achieve that through the people I meet. I'm lucky - not to have been a cover girl - but to have been able to meet all these people, to live these adventures and travel so comfortably. But despite that, it's still difficult. Nothing comes easily. Everything I've earned is down to me, and no one else.

The character is important, of course, but I like when there's intelligence in a movie. I like when it's, how do you say, sensible. So for me a film is very subjective, and it's a point of view. I like to be brought into a world of a director.

Making movies in France is different, but it's still acting, you know. You still have doubts and you're scared, always, but I really love doing films in America, because I love to speak English. But I think there's something very entertaining about American films. But I also like the intimacy of French films.

I love it when people have pleasure working and when there is respect. That's what I love.

I don't pay much attention to magazine covers. One day, there'll be slack times in my career. It's unavoidable, because success is temporary. Which is why you have to stay focused on this very taxing job.

Culture is fundamental. Literature saves you. Cinema saves you.

I don't like comfort zones. Having never had any drama training, I don't really have a technique, so I'm continually learning new things. I like being frightened, and always having to start from scratch.

But my favorite part in my body are my dark circles. They define me. They reveal my melancholy.

When I first met Adèle I was like, ‘Wow, this girl has a strong character!’ She has something very free about her. I’m not used to it. Some actresses are too self-aware, they strike a pose. Adèle is a force of nature.

I went to Berlin for a year and a half, and that's where I learned about culture and art and everything. Before that, I lived in total absence of culture. I come from a house where there was nothing like reading or art.