Michelle Monaghan quotes:

I have nice muscle tone in my arms. I can't really take credit for it, though - all the members of my family do. A lot of arm wrestling happened in our family growing up!

We're all flawed people at the end of the day; I don't know any perfect people.

When I was growing up, my parents took in foster children. From a young age, I learned that there are a lot of children in need.

We have this misconception about women in the military, that they don't wear make-up, but in reality, they're very feminine women. You can be a tough woman, and still be a very nurturing and emotional parent. It's just not always black and white like that.

I really believe in less is more in terms of makeup. I try not to wear too much foundation. I like to see my skin coming through. I like to see my freckles. I just think that's the most youthful look.

I graduated with a class of 35 people. We had basically just enough people to actually have a play.

If I find anything vintage, I'll have it tailored for my body.

I think, typically, sci-fi can be a little bit grey and thought provoking. Sometimes it leaves you pondering certain questions and things.

Some days I really love being a mom, and some days I don't! It's crazy - I'm tired of packing lunches!

I think there's a misconception, often times, I think society portrays truckers as people who can't get a better job or maybe uneducated, and I think that's a really unfair assessment.

I really want to do good work. I really do. My priority isn't stardom.

If you look at 'Breaking Bad,' nothing lacks.

I smoked for almost 10 years. I really regret that. Thankfully, I came out on the other side. I hope my lungs are repairing themselves now."

I smoked for almost 10 years. I really regret that. Thankfully, I came out on the other side. I hope my lungs are repairing themselves now.

I'm not so Hollywood; I live in New York, so it's very normal. I don't have many friends in the industry. My friends come from all sorts of different backgrounds and careers.

I live in L.A., so layers are essential to my wardrobe. I like slim silhouettes, typically, and I love good tailoring.

I want to be inside Nic Pizzolatto's brain.

I found out a few months after we started [True Detective] that I was pregnant.

I think that weird rumor or idea in Hollywood that people don't want to see female-driven movies couldn't be further from the truth. Women buy tickets to movies.

I was just fascinated with how everyone else in the world lived, and I was interested in telling their story.

Everything looks more beautiful in retrospect.

As much as I can and am able to, with the projects that are presented to me, I try to just really choose things that are challenging and are something I haven't tackled before.

I think if you find that you're making a judgment on the character, than your audience will make a judgment on the character.

[True Detective] is an intense show, even in terms of the dialogue - there's a little rhythm to it, in particular in his monologues. I think on those days, he [Woody Harrelson] really had to stay in the zone. Because there's a certain cadence in which that character speaks and talks about life, you know? But then there are other days that he was able to be a little more loose.

For me, something that's been always really important to me, that's also really served me well in hindsight, is doing different things, trying to cross different genres, and dipping my toes into comedy and drama and action here and there. Fortunately, as I've been working, the industry has also changed where you're able to dip your toes into different mediums, where it's not just independent film and studio film, but now you've got TV, and you're able to do all these different things. For me, it's just a matter of continually pushing myself and challenging myself.

I have a lot of fun. I'm passionate about what I do. I really love that.

I knew that this was something that was going to be an intense experience, just from the way I typically approach my work. I did not take the fact that I was going to portray a soldier lightly. It was so very important to me that I came across as believable and honest and truthful. I wanted to be able to convey the psychology behind the choice of leaving home for an extended period of time, knowing that you may never come back while still being a devoted parent.

I really love the festival circuit.

I think the first thing is to recognize that there is an ebb and flow to your career. There are going to be moments that are really high, and then you're going to have moments where you step away for a little bit, and maybe that's just by choice or maybe you have a family.

I was at the beginning stages of my pregnancy, and it never really feels real anyway, until you actually start showing and you start to feel the baby kick. Fortunately I didn't have any morning sickness or anything like that. And I really didn't want to be distracted from the work at hand, so I didn't tell anybody. It was really just towards the end of shooting where I was about five months, where I needed to tell a costume designer[ of the True Detective].

I will say that is a quality I love about great directors, which is the ability to give you one word that can inspire you. I appreciate a director with a very good vocabulary. There are so many directors that I have worked with that can give you one word.

I'm not too modest of a person. I've got a pretty blue sense of humor.

It was the first time I worked with Matthew McConaughey [in the True Detective].They're fun guys [with Woody Harrelson]. They don't take life at all too seriously, but yet they take their work very seriously. And both of them are just so committed to character and the story.

It was very fortuitous that the show [True Detective] actually spans seventeen years - so as I was getting older on the show, I was gaining weight. When I'm playing fifty, I'm ten pounds heavier! I don't know if they thought maybe I was method? But it actually worked to my benefit.

It's really challenging to play comedy.

So, it was really important that I go do the necessary research. In doing the research, I spent time with a lot of medics and women down at Fort Bliss. I went through an intensive medical course there, with other medics. And then, I really sat down with all of the women that had been deployed, or were getting ready to deploy again. The common thread for them was family, and what a struggle it was for them to come home and face their children and flip a switch.

What's compelling about the story and what's very honest about the story is that it's very real and it's happening. There are 200,000 women in active duty, and over 40% of them are moms. This experience is shared by thousands of women, and no one is right or wrong.

Woody [Harrelson] and I actually worked together years ago on North Country. So I felt completely at ease.

You dont grow up in a town of 700 thinking youre going to be an actress. I loved doing [school] plays, but it was just something to keep me busy.

I want to be inside Nic Pizzolattos brain.