“Any time I get a phone call, it doesn’t come up as a normal number; it’s like a five-digit code. I’m like, ‘What kind of spy organization is this?’ I’ve never seen that before. I’ve had phone calls from people in the government, and they don’t have that. Marvel is some crazy underground world.â€â€”Natalie Portman on being contacted by Marvel for her role in Thor [WENN via Contact Music]
“Not too long ago, my mum ran into one nun at home, who’d known me, and the nun told her, ‘Oh my God, I watched the “She-Wolf†video, and Shakira looks phenomenal in it! I love how she looks, how she does the splits, and how flexible her legs are.’ This was an 80-year-old nun. Times are changing.â€â€”Shakira [Guardian UK]
“I don’t know if you know, but I’m not exactly Bob Dylan — I’m already a pop musician. I’m not on [rock-snob archive label] Razor & Tie. I want to reach as many people as possible. Listen, I can play you Wes Montgomery’s Smokin’ at the Half Note. I can play you Van Halen’s ‘Panama.’ I love Big Bill Broonzy, and I love Charlie Patton, but I’m not interested in carrying on these people’s legacy. I’m interested in being informed by all of this music, while still meeting the requirements of what a pop song is. I don’t mind compromising.â€â€”John Mayer [Details]
“I made this when I was 13. At the time, I was really into Kraftwerk. They had that song ‘The Robots,’ and to me, it sounded like they were saying ‘Zee Robots.’ I never really pursued visual art. Like Emilio Estevez in Repo Man, I reached my pinnacle and moved on. Vampire Weekend is my Mighty Ducks.â€â€”Ezra Koenig on a painting in his apartment [Spin]
“We’ve been offered a hell of a lot of parts playing opposite each other in films and TV, and we just turn them down. If you do work together, you put yourself up, you make yourself a target, and you make your relationship a target and all of that. We’re very keen not to do that.â€â€”James McAvoy on not acting with his actress wife, Anne-Marie Duff [Contact Music]