"I think I will always have a place. I don't think I have to rule or reign but there's a place for me."
"In photos, I don't know who the real me is - it's all pretend, just pretend. There's not much of myself in my work. If I'm looking in the mirror and I'm working, I'm looking at my make-up and my hair. It's not the same as looking at myself."
"I love change, I really enjoy the new models, the new looks but I don't agree that they all need to be a certain size or age. Why can't someone new come along who's 25 or 30. Or 50? When I was young, you could open Vogue and see a range of body shapes. Now the whole editorial section is devoted toone body shape. Maybe that's one person's view. It's not mine."
"I used to look at magazines and I couldn't afford those clothes and I couldn't look like those women. And you know what I found out when I became a model? I still couldn't look like those women, because I'm retouched and I've had four hours of make-up and two hours of hair and I'm pinned and airbrushed and I'm holding a position that my body could never hold in real life and look natural. So even I could never look like myself." (And Linda is laughing when she says this).
"I got so sick of my face and the flaws."
LINDA EVANGELISTA: Who do you most admire?
PEDRO ALMODOVAR: There are many directors I admire: Scorcese, for exemple, and I very much like Tarantino - his films are fantastic. I would like to work with Harvey Keitel and Barbara Hershey, but I would also like to work with you, Linda. You would make a wonderful housewife. There would be no point in casting you as a top model, that would be meaningless. I would like to cast you as a regular sub-urban housewife with problems. You know, with a sexy, beautiful girl like you, the audience wants to see you are human, so I would show your suffering, and show that just beautiful doesn't mean you have no soul or pain.
(Elle 1996, Linda Evangelista interviews Pedro Almodovar)
"No one would ever believe that I was shy. Up on the runway I don't feel that way. I don't feel like they're looking at me. When I'm doing my job, nothing can touch me. I feel protected. It's backstage I feel vulnerable. My anxiety kicks in in social situations."
"I have this great fear of people - not when I'm on the runway, but backstage. In a room full of people, I really suffer. I sort of go into a tunnel and I feel very removed. I get so tense, I can't swallow, and my heartbeat goes way up. It still happens now, although I'm better at controlling it."
"I accept that keeping in shape doesn't come naturally, so I work hard. I hit the gym every day: Pilates, yoga, weights. I used to love wine but I've stopped drinking. I quit smoking and I'll never start again."
"I was having panic attacks. I didn't want to live that way anymore. I was in love and I wanted it to work. I was tired of travelling, tired of the whole scene, just tired. I sat around. I was lazy. I wanted a routine, and I wanted to wake up in the same bed every day, and I got my wish."
"The miscarriage was a big part of my absence. That contributed to my further laziness and depression. It was the hardest thing I ever had to go through. And I'm not over it, and I never will be. Everyone says, 'After you fall off a horse, get back up on it again,' but I didn't get back up on the horse. I didn't have the courage. I just think the further along in the term, the harder it is. You can't measure that kind of pain. I accept it, and I understand it; it's just hard. But life goes on. At least I'm optimistic."
