"A man like Wilde was not free to live out of the closet as a homosexual, and women in general were not able to be truly themselves; there was no place for a woman's voice to be heard or for her to express her sexuality." - Marisa Tomei
"All of us have read the stories about young people in Hollywood and all the challenges they have to confront there, and I think that artistically, I really didn't understand the commercial side of the film business, so I went back to a purely artistic setting." - Marisa Tomei
"As Jesus was coming to be known, all the cults of women goddesses-fertility and nature goddesses, and so on-were starting to be swept aside." - Marisa Tomei
"Film, there's this whole allure because it just lasts and lasts, but I think the allure for me of doing a play is that it's almost like the sand paintings they make in Venice. It just goes away after one time, and that's it. You had to be there that one night to be part of that." - Marisa Tomei
"I am really not of the school of naturalism. I like style, and you can use more style in theater than in film roles. I love to sink my teeth into a part." - Marisa Tomei
"I don't prefer much of film over stage. The only thing I prefer is the paycheck." - Marisa Tomei
"I grew up on musicals, and I know they are quite the thing now, but I'm actually a little indignant, because I started taking singing lessons years ago-I put the time in!" - Marisa Tomei
"I really don't like when things are all polished and perfect - the perfect love story and the hair is perfect." - Marisa Tomei
"I was exposed to the arts, but there was no one in my family who was an artist." - Marisa Tomei
"I'm from Midwood, a very Jewish area, and I grew up thinking that I must be Jewish and that for some reason, unlike our neighbors, we ate a lot of pasta!" - Marisa Tomei
"I've just been really lucky to not be too much of a stereotype." - Marisa Tomei
"I've sought out several dance teachers-shaman-like women dance teachers-to get in touch with the mystical through movement." - Marisa Tomei
"It's almost better to imagine all the decadence than having me come out decked in feathers and doing the hoochey-coo." - Marisa Tomei
"My brother and I went to tap-dance school, and... before there were VCRs, we would stay up late watching musicals on TV." - Marisa Tomei
"Not to get overly psychological about this, but it's probably why I became an actress in the first place: for that kind of freedom and refuge, as well as for the fact that I just love acting so much." - Marisa Tomei
"Politics itself is so unsexy, isn't it? But when the politics in creative works are really explored - not used as a vehicle - the results can be really interesting." - Marisa Tomei
"Unfortunately, very often in roles you're only wanted to stand there and be sweet. That's why I'm drawn back to roles in theater." - Marisa Tomei
"With acting, it was really more of a general kind of experience of really just loving being in the theater." - Marisa Tomei
"You express different energies at different times in your life." - Marisa Tomei
"You have your structure, but within it, it gets fuller and you can highlight other parts of the performance." - Marisa Tomei
