Right now I am trying to be in a place of calm, a place where I can chill out and then handle the chaos of life better. You don't just get it overnight; you have to work at it. It's a daily struggle.
My dream is to be Endora in Bewitched. That's the part I want to do. I want to do a fabulous old woman. I want to be Maggie Smith someday. Not exactly like her, but that genre. I like that kind of humor - sophisticated, vain stuff.
You don't want to be mean to people, but some people are real assholes. And you can't say that on TV - or, you can, but probably, as a celebrity, I can't get away with it. Trust me. Unless you're somebody who can say anything they want, I guess, like Donald Trump.
I like writing my own material - Im pretty good at it.
I don't want to take all the time. I just want to do what you wrote and let me go from there. I don't want to miss something. You know, I'm not really a writer per se, but I can write. But I can't put a script together like they can.
Reality shows are for reality stars. Celebrities do, maybe, Dancing With The Stars, maybe they might do Celebrity Wife Swap, but dealing with strangers, with people you don't know, in a real situation? People say it's fake, it's based on what they tell other people to do but won't tell you, but you still have a gut reaction, you know.
You become self-conscious and you begin to criticize yourself so much and watch yourself, and I don't want to ever do that. I want to be able to be free and explore. So I won't really watch it, but I would love to do, like, The Incredibles, or something like that. I would love to do a movie that's really, really good and animated. Inside Out, something like that. Something really smart.
When it comes to comedy, they always say, "Jackée, whatever comes to your mind." But heaven forbid I can't think of something. It's never happened yet, thank God. I may knock on wood.
Mostly you don't want to make people feel bad because they carry that with them for the rest of their lives. I've found that. I hurt people on Celebrity Fit Club by being too honest. People loved it, but I was serious. I just hate phony baloneys. I can't do it anymore. I told them no. My tongue is too sharp. It was brutal.
I never wanted to be a mother, and when I got the show I was really upset. I was like "I'm not sexy anymore!" The more you become a mom, you're not sexy, which of course is crap. But that's the way actors look at it. Of course, that's not true now. But everybody expects you to look differently and act differently.
Well, there's no other person like me. Ain't nobody else like me. It's flattering. I don't like to do it too much because I get tired of me. But people ask, so I get to do it every now and then.
I just remember lot of men running around in little tiny gold shorts! The format - it was kind of hard. You really have to know about pop culture and I'm not really knowledgeable about a lot of those things. I know what I like. They'd ask about Gwyneth Paltrow, and I don't know anything about her, except her mother. I know who her mother is. So you really have to be current and relevant.
I started in theater when I was 14 in the Henry Street Playhouse on the Lower East Side in New York. You hustle, you beat the sidewalk, the pavement - audition, audition. I just started working around town everywhere. I mean everywhere - the Village, Harlem, you know. Brooklyn Academy Of Music. Just job after job.
Francis Coppola was very generous. We got paid a lot of money and he saw us every day, took us out every night. It was just a lot. Richard Gere was an absolute gentleman. Gregory Hines. You know, I worked with some giants and they were just so smooth. And it was the '80s. That's when people had a lot of money and it was okay to to hang out and be crazy.
If you want to do other things, you have to leave soap operas, otherwise you'll be there forever, which is not bad, you know. Some people have made a great living off of being on soap operas. But if you want to branch out you have to leave early, otherwise you'll never get the shot.
I used to teach. I quote American history and I love words. I've read the dictionary I don't know how many times throughout my life. People say, "You read the dictionary?" I say, "Yes, and you can really believe it."
I like words and numbers. I'm obsessed with them. You know, I think I would've been a mathematician had I kept up, but it's the stuff in your head, you know? It's like being technologically adept. You have it or you don't. You can learn it, but some people just have it. They go to sleep, wake up, and know everything. I like games, too. I love playing games.
I just want to be powerful and in charge, or crazy and in charge. Say anything I want, and still know everybody loves you. Or, you know, like Jessica Lange. She's not old-looking, but she's older and she's working on that America Horror stuff. Wicked.
I hate to say it, but the older you get, you really do have to cut down on the amount you eat. Less food and less portions.
I don't mind dating younger men now.
I like beautiful clothing. I love Bergdorfs.
