Lake Bell quotes:

I'm vegan on home base, but when I travel to other countries, I throw it all into the garbage.

Filmmaking is a huge privilege; it's not brain surgery. It's art, and art is supposed to be an enjoyable process, and it is an enjoyable experience for me.

I have this necklace I always wear. I collect pendants from people I love; my best friends and members of my family have all given me one, and I put them on this chain so no matter where I am they're always with me.

I'm going to say a phrase or terminology or vowel that I don't know how to attack .

Actually, in my own life I think I probably feign neuroses to be more interesting than I am.

I think coming to work and being absurd and neurotic and thoughtful at the same time is far more interesting.

I love fashion. I always have. When I was a kid, I was in almost full-on costumes when I went to school, and I've retained a bit of that in my adulthood.

It's priceless what you learn when you actually do. The best education is effectively to be functioning in the occupation that you want to take on.

I worked with an amazing dialect coach named Jill McCullough. We did Skype sessions while I was shooting "No Escape" in Thailand, actually. So three times a week I would have long, two-hour sessions with her just working on the nuance of the accent, which I had had a huge background in because I went to drama school in England for four years.

I feel very lucky that when I'm burnt out of acting I take to the pen and I write something I want to direct.

I completely bombed the audition... I was insecure, stopping and starting. I went to the bathroom and cried.

I learned how to direct by being in the trenches of movies. Getting to be a student from the inside looking out, and if you're a respectful observer you can sponge lots of information. That was my film school.

I like my body, I like to have fun with what I put on, but I also want to remain classic. So I guess my signature is sexy and eclectic but classic.

I respect deeply that each project brings its own secret and wonderful gifts and happy accidents.

I think of myself as a content creator and hopefully one day a content enabler and supporter of others, so that's what my immediate and hopefully future journey is.

I'm in full transparency here of "Yeah, I'm trying to find my financing."

I am lactose intolerant, and I always thought it was really funny how people who are lactose intolerant continue to eat dairy, because they like it so much. And I find it not acceptable.

If I'm going to pour that kind of love and energy and sweat and heartache, all that juju into something, I'm going to lean into my own projects before someone else's.

I find the female tragedy of insecurity to be hilarious. We get obsessed over issues like the tiny skin tags on our backs or that we're fat. You read one line in a magazine and it sends you into a tailspin.

But I'd say 'How to Make It in America' is the most accurate depiction of the New York hipster community on television for sure.

There are a lot of funny people and a lot of unfunny people. Some of them are women and some of them are dudes.

A friend of mine told me, you know your obsession with girls who talk like sexy babies? You have to put that into your script.

I feel tremendously lucky that I am offered incredible jobs all the time to direct, but the problem that I have just personally is that there are only so many years in my life to dedicate to certain projects.

I had had a huge background in the nuance of the accent because I went to drama school in England for four years.

I hope, my career is never predictable. And my interests are diverse in that way. I feel very lucky that when I'm burnt out of acting I take to the pen and I write something I want to direct. And then when I'm tired of taking on too much responsibility as a director I then look for an acting gig. And I've made it very clear that I'm interested in voiceover work. I mean, I'm always looking for voiceover gigs. I love that.

I sort of loved the bustle of a thousand questions. Women are inherently kind of multitaskers.

I think great directors really respect their actors and vice versa. That mutual respect makes the job fun instead of anything but.

I vowed to never use my American accent, and I didn't. Even going to get the paper in the morning to buying milk down at the shop, getting a cab, wherever.

I wrote an entire movie [Man up] about how important I think voices are, so it was funny.

I'll be totally honest in that I feel tremendously lucky that I am offered incredible jobs all the time to direct, but the problem that I have just personally is that there are only so many years in my life to dedicate to certain projects. When you're directing something that's generally two years of your life, you have to understand that. If I'm going to pour that kind of love and energy and sweat and heartache, all that juju into something, I'm going to lean into my own projects before someone else's.

I'm not a drug person. I don't like drugs. I went to college in London, so it was kind of the curriculum there. I got it out of my system really young.

It's like the most profound accomplishment that I've had in my career, that I can finally be that voice.

I've learned from every director I've worked with. Everybody's style is very different, and I always say that being an actor is the best film school that I could ever go to.

I've made it very clear that I'm interested in voiceover work. I mean, I'm always looking for voiceover gigs. I love that.

Part of what's cool about being an actor or being in this industry, frankly, is to be able to travel to distant lands. That's part of the deal. I always thought when I was growing up, "I wanna be an actor and go see the world.'

Something that has always attracted me to even taking on the occupation of actor is the idea that I could be lucky enough to portray different characterizations from different places in the world, whether it's speaking another language or taking on a dialect and building a history from where they were born. I was very attracted to that concept, in becoming an actor.

The producers had seen "In a World..." and that's where they found me out and consequently sought me out for this role [in Man up].

The reason I got into this business was for the privilege to exist in different genres and different worlds and play out different realities.

What's the trick to writing a genuinely funny comedy? The trick is therapy. Take notes.

When I do an accent I commit fully and take it very seriously.

When I'm tired of taking on too much responsibility as a director I then look for an acting gig.

With more money brings more fear and when you're trying to be creative in a fear-based environment it's dangerous. Then decisions are made out of fear, not what's best for the film.

You can't live in a dialect without tremendous work. Like any muscle, accents and voices and languages are all formed out of the muscles that we have in our mouths and faces and tongues.

You have to be steadfast, and right now I'm on a stream train forward to make .

You have to keep hobbies in L.A. Otherwise, it's sad.