He was committed and generous. Slowly, he won me over. He was very respectful of me as a woman and an actress.

Every woman who thinks she is the only victim of violence has to know that there are many more.

No woman has to be a victim of physical abuse. Women have to feel like they are not alone.

There has never been a female director who has won an Oscar. There has only been one woman who won at the Cannes Film Festival.

I had to endure the worst time of all in terms of racial discrimination in Hollywood when I first started out. It was inconcievable to American directors and producers that a Mexican woman could have a lead role.

They offered me that film before I did Frida and I said, no, I'm not capable of directing. Then after seeing Julie direct, I was inspired by it. She motivated me to do it, because we don't have role models as woman for directors.