Quotable talents in 2017 (part 2)

(Second of three parts)

LOS ANGELES—We continue our column on talents who said quotable quotes in our interviews that were almost as memorable as the best lines they deliver on the screen.

Goldie Hawn—Photos by Ruben V. Nepales

Goldie Hawn

(On sexual harassment) A few men exposed themselves to me in the elevator in the ’60s. It’s like, when are we going to grow up? A lot of women just took it. Most did, and you do that thing which is like, “Ugh ugh!” Then, you’d walk on, but it was so humiliating.

Gal Gadot

Gal Gadot

(On how we almost lost Gal as “Wonder Woman”) I almost quit acting. I was in America. I used to come here once or twice a year with my husband. I already had [my daughter] Alma. I had so many “almost [got the part]” and camera tests that I was just sick of them.

The rejection was the hardest part about being an actor here. I never dreamed of being an actress, [but] it happened to me. I was like, maybe it isn’t for me.

Then, Zack Snyder asked me to audition for something, [but] they wouldn’t say what it was for. I did the audition and went back home to shoot an Israeli movie. I didn’t even know if I would continue being in the [acting] industry at all.

While I was shooting the Israeli film, they asked me to fly to America to do the camera test. I said, “Great! What are they testing me for?” My agent said, “Oh, they didn’t tell you?” I said, “No, I have no idea.”

My agent said, “OK, they’re going to fly you next week. Hopefully, someone will contact you.” Two days later, Zack Snyder called me and said, “I don’t know if you have her in Israel, but did you ever hear of Wonder Woman?” Then, I did a camera test and got the part.

Nicole Scherzinger

Nicole Scherzinger

I feel like some of the best voices in the world are Filipino voices. I got my voice from my Hawaiian side, too—my grandmother. But Filipino people can sing, right?

I grew up in a family where my grandmother sang and always played the ukulele. My mother was a hula dancer.
But we didn’t have the means or the money to help put me through classes.

So, I think it’s a God-given gift. That’s the only way I knew how to express myself, because I was shy as a kid. Growing up, I just loved music. I wanted to be Whitney Houston.

Darren Criss

Darren Criss

(The Fil-Am on tackling the biggest and most challenging role in his career, Andrew Cunanan, in “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” which premieres this January) This is a moment for me, and I recognize that. I do feel like my ship came in for this one … I’m unfathomably grateful. But I studied acting. I treat acting like a real craft as much as you love to roll your eyes at that little word. But it’s true. There’s no sense of entitlement. But I worked hard. I believe in doing the necessary steps to get to a certain place.

So, to finally be given this opportunity, I feel prepared. Whether or not it’s good is a whole other story. It could be horrible, crash and burn. But it’s like that—give me the ball, coach. And Ryan Murphy certainly gave me a good throw.

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie

I actually couldn’t be at the final post (production for the film, “First They Killed My Father”). I couldn’t be there because of family issues. So sometimes, it appears I’m pulling it all together, but in fact, I’m just trying to get through my days. But if you love what you do, you tend to push forward and enjoy it.

I feel that my body has sometimes taken a hit with all the things that I had to do. Then, emotionally, it’s been a very difficult year on top of it. I have had other health issues in the last few years. So, my health is something that I have to monitor.

But the only thing I do is try to laugh as much as possible. We tend to get so stressed that our children feel our stress. They need to feel our joy. For everything that we go through, just living every day, find the ability to live, love and laugh. It may sound like a postcard, but it’s true.

On being single again, she was empathic: I don’t enjoy it. It’s not something I wanted. There’s just nothing nice about it.

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

(On how Harrison felt when he received the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2002—he has been nominated four times for best actor honors, but hasn’t won) I didn’t realize at the time that that would be the only one [I would get].

Woody Allen

Woody Allen

I’m not a collector at all. I have no mementos of my work. There are no pictures of me with Kate Winslet or anyone. I don’t have programs from the theater or still shots from my movies. I just feel that once a movie is over, it’s gone.

It’s not that I deliberately don’t have them. I was never interested in them. There are no traces [of my work]. Someone once came over to my house, doing an interview with me and said, “You would never know what he did. It’s like the home of a literate lawyer.”

I don’t have DVDs of my movies. I wouldn’t know how to play them anyhow. In the library, there’s probably a copy of one or two of my books. It’s from apathy. I don’t look at my films, so I don’t need them. I don’t read my books, certainly. I’m giving my best shot all the time and if the public enjoys my film, I am thrilled. If they don’t, there’s nothing I can do.

(Conclusion on Sunday)

E-mail [email protected]. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben.