I did karate for about three years. When I was going into Miss Texas, my mom said, 'Let's not do karate this year. Let's not have any knocked-out teeth on the stage.'
— Sarah Shahi
It is therapeutic for me to act, to be able to slip into somebody else's skin, and know it's not you, but know that you bring a lot of yourself to it. At times in my life it's provided me with a lot of confusion. It's also provided me with a lot of discovery.
My father left when I was really young, but he's still living. There are things I wish I'd said that I didn't and I don't think I'll ever get the opportunity to say. He's battled addiction problems his entire life. I wish things were different. I wish there were a way my son could know him, know the good parts of him.
I feel that as the world becomes more and more multicultural, it's a good tool to be able to speak another language.
I'm a girl in boy's clothing. I like to get a little rough. I prefer mud to makeup. That's me in a nutshell.
My views on equality are pretty obvious. I mean, I did play a highly complex lesbian techno DJ on TV, but I know it's not always easy to come out and tell the world where you stand.
I came from a single parent household. And I had a bad example of what a husband and father could be and how irresponsible a father could be. So because of that, I didn't want to get married or have kids.
I like a man who can come out and say he's nervous on the first date. I think that would be really cute.
You really have to take your time; you have to know your character and your scene. The line you are about to say comes from the moment right before. It's not what's said, it's what is in between the spaces, it's what's in between the lines; that is the most important to play.
I'm a tomboy myself and have always been incredibly athletic.
I'm attracted to playing characters that have flaws.
I can take a newspaper and make it a lethal weapon.
I really got into 'The Walking Dead.' That was genius. And I have to say, my husband is on 'Shameless,' and I think it's a brilliant show.
My favorite workouts are the ones that don't feel like I'm working out! So, dance is a big one. Another is any kind of isolated moves, like ballet moves. Anything that works the glutes and legs - sign me up! And I like to blast the music. I have to get lost in the music. That helps.
I never really paid attention to sports, which, coming from the mecca of football in Texas, is kind of odd. I played sports, but I was nerdy. Having a single mother, the pressure was on me to get good grades and a scholarship and go to college.
To sit next to Walter Hill, and to be able to exchange ideas back and forth, and for him to be able to tell you that he likes what you're doing - I don't know. I kind of pinch myself.
My parents divorced when I was 10, but when my father was there, he was trying to create almost like a little prison for me.
I'm not one to be messed with. I can be bad when it needs to happen.
As a parent, you experience the most of everything. The most love, the most fear, the most hurt and the most tired, the most of every emotion.
I was captain of the volleyball team and the basketball team, and I ran track.
I'm a wife and a mother. I don't want to be immature; I have to be ready at all times.
I love guns. I love shooting guns.
Once, I started cheering for the wrong team. I was hot, and I heard 'Touchdown!' and I started doing high kicks, and I looked around and nobody else was cheering.
I'm used to a lot of love scenes. I'm used to something that requires me to kick up my heels and wink-wink, flirt-flirt with a twirl of my skirt.
I always had that adolescent notion that I had to get out of Texas. But I'm really glad I grew up there. It's where I learned to look people in the eye, to be straightforward and polite.
I just like to go where the material is, whether that's TV, or movies, or the stage. As long as it's great writing, it's pretty much something I can't resist.
Let me tell you, I've never heard a man whine more than Jason Momoa getting knocked around by little ol' me.
Michael Emerson is just a prince. There's something about him. He's so sweet. I don't know how to describe it. There's something about him that's a bit royal.
I never thought I would be one of those wacky chicks who say, 'I loved my labor,' but I loved every part of it. It was the best day of my life.
My role is to just tell the highest degree of truth with every character and every story. From there, I have no clue whatsoever how things are going to turn out.
Growing up, I loved Morticia Addams and Lily Munster on one hand, and Jeannie from 'I Dream of Jeannie' on the other. Two completely different ends of the spectrum, kind of like me.
I have an incredibly dark, mysterious, witchy side and another side that's very bubbly and cheerleader-esque.
I don't really like 'acting' - I like things to feel as natural as possible.
My mother raised three kids on her own, so I was taught that to be a working mom was a good thing.
I've learned a lot with every character, everything from being a cop, to a lawyer to a tattoo artist. And underneath that stuff, I've been really able to find myself through the characters. It's served as a cheap form of emotional therapy.
I think it's important to love what you do and have a good time with it. I go to work every day and have a blast.
It doesn't matter what people say or what the rules say or what you're supposed to do, you go after what's in your heart.
The most important mark I will leave on this world is my son.
You can get a man's attention if you got a pair of boobs and a butt. I hate to simplify them down so much, but I think it's true.
Cheerleading was my way in. It was one of the most rigorous audition processes ever. It definitely groomed me for Hollywood.
I hate girls who complain, 'Oh, guys are looking at me!' But I love it when guys check me out. It just feels great.
Just because we are women doesn't mean the only roles we can play are that of the finger-shaking girlfriend.
Once you're sort of pigeonholed into something, it's quite difficult to get out of it. I have no aversion to playing a gay character again, but it would definitely have to be the right role.
The goal as an actor is to constantly surround yourself with amazing artists who challenge you and make you grow.
Honestly, as an actor, all I need to know, the way I kind of look at a scene, is like a puzzle. There are certain puzzle pieces that are bigger than others, and all I need to know is if this is going to fit here to make this part of the puzzle work.
I had a home birth because I really believe in the body's natural ability to give birth. The medical profession has kind of warped women's minds into thinking we don't know how to birth and we need doctors and epidurals and Pitocin.
Plyometrics. Hate them. Enough already. Jumping around, using your own body weight is so hard to me. How did we do it as kids?
I actually got more attention from one episode of 'The Sopranos' than I did from two years of 'The L Word.'
It's fun to work on location because you get the look and feel of everything, but it's nice to be on a stage because you can control the elements.
My biggest fantasy was to have a pie thrown in my face, and I always said whoever did that, that's the guy I'd marry.
