Catherine Deneuve Quotes & Sayings

I am frivolous. But sometimes, that's the problem of my Christian education, when I know I've been frivolous, and I know I have to do it, then I feel guilty. — Catherine Deneuve

I didn't devote my life to acting. I give a lot to my work, but my life has always been more important. — Catherine Deneuve

Sometimes, if you're shooting a complicated scene, you have to stay in a position and wait for the technician to do his job, and then you have to be where you're supposed to be, right on the spot. You don't rehearse all that much on films. If I think of the amount of time I spend on set compared with the time spent shooting, it's ridiculously short. — Catherine Deneuve

I don't live that much with the character. I find it hard enough having to spend so many hours with the character during the day. — Catherine Deneuve

This book was company for me - I wrote these things when I was in hotels, far from where I normally live. I never intended to publish it. — Catherine Deneuve

In America you need a bodyguard to go out. — Catherine Deneuve

Marriage is obsolete and a trap. — Catherine Deneuve

Getting older is not nice for anyone, not for men, not for women, and even more difficult for people who depend on their physical appearance. But it's not a drama. I know some people who are much more stressed than I am. And also, I live in Europe; I think it would be much more difficult if I lived in America. — Catherine Deneuve

I cannot imagine having a physical relationship with a woman. I have not done that. But I really love women. — Catherine Deneuve

The story is more important to me than the part. — Catherine Deneuve

You'll be back. When the hunger knows no reason! And then you'll need to feed, and you'll need me to show you how. — Catherine Deneuve

I live very normally, I go out with my friends, we go to the movies, I queue, we go to restaurants. — Catherine Deneuve

You get involved with a character after spending a long time waiting, and this demands a lot of energy and concentration. — Catherine Deneuve

I love to do very long and complicated scenes. — Catherine Deneuve

To have a public life, you still have the right to a private life. — Catherine Deneuve

You're better off not preparing, because what you prepare will always be wrong. — Catherine Deneuve

It was mostly an aura about him (Gene Kelly). For me he was Hollywood. The way I'd imagined it as a child. — Catherine Deneuve

What I do is I come in the morning and get involved in the character, but I'm always very pleased to leave it at night and have my life. — Catherine Deneuve

I was never a dangerous woman. I'm not the prissy blonde woman that could take your husband away. — Catherine Deneuve

Film is a very young art that is still evolving. Soon, we shall reach a balance between content and technology. — Catherine Deneuve

Opportunities are often things you haven't noticed the first time around. — Catherine Deneuve

I choose my roles carefully. — Catherine Deneuve

I would have liked maybe to be in architecture or painting, something connected to the fine arts. — Catherine Deneuve

People who know me know I'm strong, but I'm vulnerable. — Catherine Deneuve

Being a film actor is very different from a theatre actor. — Catherine Deneuve

I wouldn't say no to being in a film with Jude Law. I love English actors. — Catherine Deneuve

I don't enjoy. I suffer from enjoying. It's very Christian. — Catherine Deneuve

I think one of the few times I've been involved with real-life characters was the story of Marie Bonaparte. I think it's really difficult to become someone that really existed. — Catherine Deneuve

Prostitution happens to you because of troubles you had. In reality no woman would choose to do that. — Catherine Deneuve

You can tell how nervous I am by how fast I am talking! — Catherine Deneuve

I like some of the early silent films because I love to watch how actors had to play then. What would interest me today is to do a silent film. — Catherine Deneuve

Sometimes, just to give the impression that you have the strength and the vitality demands a lot. You can't always give that impression when you have heels and a wig on and it's 40 degrees outside. — Catherine Deneuve

Charm and perfection hardly cooperate. Charm premises little mistakes which one would like to cover. — Catherine Deneuve

Sex is a big question mark. It is something people will talk about forever. — Catherine Deneuve

You can express a lot of things, a lot of action without speaking. — Catherine Deneuve

I think I will always feel a special relationship with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, because for me it was something very, very special. It was a modern opera, and to play the heroine in a film that became such a success at a young age, and learning from him when I was so young and impressionable - really it was one of my most important experiences. — Catherine Deneuve

Being an actress is a very physical thing. If I didn't look the way I looked, I would never have started in films. — Catherine Deneuve

Men are good but women are magic. — Catherine Deneuve

Truffaut loved actresses, and he was very intense. All the actresses I knew wanted to do a film with him. — Catherine Deneuve

A lot of actors don't like to see how they've done every day. — Catherine Deneuve

Even if a woman is abused a very long time ago, it comes out in her life in a negative way. — Catherine Deneuve

Directors have to push me. I have to be pushed up. Not all the time, but often. — Catherine Deneuve

I'm not always the nicest person to meet, because I forget very easily that I'm an actress when I'm not working. — Catherine Deneuve

I go to the movies a lot, and I regret when I see some actor that I used to like, to find them offering no more surprises. — Catherine Deneuve

It is very fashionable for good-looking ladies to say how hard it is to be beautiful, but that's not true. There are times when itdepresses and bothers me to see just how easy things are made for a beautiful woman. — Catherine Deneuve

I love to not work. I like to travel. I work maybe half the year, no more. — Catherine Deneuve

Polanski was very precise. I think he still is. — Catherine Deneuve

At a certain age, you have to choose between your face and your ass. — Catherine Deneuve

Bjork is a very original, interesting person. I like her very much. — Catherine Deneuve

If you try to measure the future, you will never risk the present. Playing it safe. A ghastly game. — Catherine Deneuve

Some people fall in love with their co-stars and feel things that they never thought they would feel for them because they are touching. — Catherine Deneuve

I admire directors so much, I find them incredible: they manage such a huge number of people of different characters, think of the money involved. — Catherine Deneuve

When you're young, you try to meet that expectation that people have of you. It can be very stressful. But with time it's become less of problem. — Catherine Deneuve

You should put scent where you like to be kissed. — Catherine Deneuve

I have no physical courage, I've asked for a double. — Catherine Deneuve

I'm lucky; people write scripts for me. — Catherine Deneuve

All women who kill or have sexual obsessions or who are prostitutes have trouble with their fathers. — Catherine Deneuve

People have always thought of me as someone who's very classical,when in fact I've led a rather unconventional life. — Catherine Deneuve

I would love to work with Robert De Niro or Al Pacino. I think they're wonderful actors. — Catherine Deneuve

I'm not an admirer of action movies. I just think, Oh my God, it must be so tiring. — Catherine Deneuve

Acting is also working with people who invite you into their dreams and trust you with their innermost being. — Catherine Deneuve

I think anything that has to do with sexuality makes people very interested. — Catherine Deneuve

Sometimes it's more difficult to do very simple, low-key films. — Catherine Deneuve

You suffer as an actor. It's difficult to be an actor and live a good life, especially today. — Catherine Deneuve

People expect a lot more from someone they think looks interesting. It's a burden. — Catherine Deneuve

I think the clothes in Belle de Jour are very important to the style of the film. Even today, it is still timeless. — Catherine Deneuve

I like all these little animals that run and eat and hide all the time. I like their faces, They seem to be scared and curious at the same time. — Catherine Deneuve

I don't see any reason for marriage when there is divorce. — Catherine Deneuve

That's what I like about film-it can be bizarre, classic, normal, romantic. Cinema is to me the most versatile thing. — Catherine Deneuve

I like being famous when it's convenient for me and completely anonymous when it's not. — Catherine Deneuve

On Belle de Jour, the producer was very protective. It was very hard for me. — Catherine Deneuve

I admire Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet. I like a lot of comedians. I like Cameron Diaz - she's funny and has a very light spirit. That's quite rare nowadays. There are many actresses I admire. — Catherine Deneuve

I love to not work. I love to go to the movies, I like to travel ... I think I work maybe half the year. Sometimes, people think I've done three films in a year, but it's because I did a participation in a film. But I work for half a year, no more. — Catherine Deneuve

I can be very critical on myself and on other people; I can be very demanding. — Catherine Deneuve

I did important films when I was very young. — Catherine Deneuve

Most of the time I've worked with directors who write their own scripts. The story is more important to me than the part. The project of the film has always been more important to me. — Catherine Deneuve

I always try to keep that feeling of being on the edge. I'm afraid of knowing too well and seeming mechanical. — Catherine Deneuve

I know who I am, how I was. I don't want to know how I will be because nobody knows that. — Catherine Deneuve

Actors have to be there and do the work, and that's enough. — Catherine Deneuve

There are relatively few role models for young people. We are in a society that is ruled by men. — Catherine Deneuve

I love vampire stories. That's why I did the movie. Women especially were taken with that movie-even more so when it came out on video. — Catherine Deneuve

It's very difficult for me to speak about being an actor. — Catherine Deneuve

To wait, for an actor, is not like someone who's waiting to see the doctor. It's not the kind of wait where you get bored. — Catherine Deneuve

People don't know very much about me. They do not know what really goes on in my private life. — Catherine Deneuve

Lesbians and gays ... they still have to fight, even inside. It's not that simple, even if they seem to be accepted. — Catherine Deneuve

Mississippi Mermaid was a very special experience because we only had the dialogues for the scenes we were shooting the night before. — Catherine Deneuve

I'm afraid of being too sure, to just deliver. I think that's the biggest danger for actors - after a certain time, when you're known and recognised, people expect you to do what you're supposed to do, and there's almost no more criticism and that's very dangerous. — Catherine Deneuve

The paparazzi are nothing but dogs of war. — Catherine Deneuve

It has been very erotic and provocative for people to wonder about my feelings for women. — Catherine Deneuve

I get irritated, nervous, very tense or stressed, but never bored. — Catherine Deneuve

I had mice that I kept as pets when I was very young, and I've always liked the way they look. Even rats. I'm not scared of them. — Catherine Deneuve

I like working with directors much, because I want to be able to give myself completely to their vision. Otherwise I would only do what I could do, again and again. I want to be taken by someone in a different direction. — Catherine Deneuve

I have a strong sense of responsibility. I like to be directed, it's true. If I didn't like that, I'd do something else. — Catherine Deneuve

It's always difficult to play a scene of physical violence because you're always afraid that you don't know your own strength and might hurt someone. — Catherine Deneuve

I never hoped that both my children would become actors. I expected them to do something else. — Catherine Deneuve

Being an actor means being an instrument for someone else. I want to give myself completely. — Catherine Deneuve

When I first see the dailies, I look only at myself, but then you start to see the scene. — Catherine Deneuve

Cinema is still a very young art form with extraordinary techniques and very impressive special effects but sometimes it seems the soul has been taken out of things. — Catherine Deneuve

A woman has to be intelligent, have charm, a sense of humor, and be kind. It's the same qualities I require from a man. — Catherine Deneuve

I'm so popular it's scary sometimes. I suppose I'm just everybody's type. — Catherine Deneuve