Foster: "I'd always need a creative outlet. But sometimes, I do fantasize what my life would be like if I weren't famous."

Foster: "Acting, for me, is exhausting. I'm always more energized by directing. It's more intense to direct. I can pop in and express myself, then pop out again. It's a huge passion for me."

Foster: "The best reason to make a film is that you feel passionately about it."

Foster: "You develop a third eye where you kind of know where they are in a room at all times but no matter how vigilant you are as a parent, at some point, you'll look around a room and can't find them and there's a searing pain that goes through your body."

Foster: "Otherness is a big thing for me. I'm always drawn to characters that live lives that I couldn't lead."

Foster: "Any actor working a long time should know how a shot is set up, where to place themselves, how to handle the lines. I'm a member of the crew, like the best boy, the electrician. What I'm good at is making eyes at the camera."

Foster: "Being understood is not the most essential thing in life."

Foster: "It's an interesting combination: Having a great fear of being alone, and having a desperate need for solitude and the solitary experience. That's always been a tug of war for me."

Foster: "Every movie changes you. The process of making a film changes you."

Foster: "Knowing what paint a painter uses or having an understanding of where he was in the history of where he came from doesn't hurt your appreciation of the painting."

Foster: "Part of me longs to do a job where there's not a gray area."

Foster: "I fantasize about having a manual job where I can come home at night, read a book and not feel responsible for what will happen the next day."

Foster: "I think an artist's responsibility is more complex than people realize."

Foster: "It's very hard for me to get a new car. It's really hard for me to get a new house. It's really hard for me to move on from the things that give me stability."

Foster: "Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."

Foster: "As an actor, I'm attracted to drama; as a director, it's humor - because it's the story of my life, and I can't be that serious about it. Being alone is a big theme in all my movies, both as a director and as an actress."

Foster: "Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable."