Chris Pine

I have learned that when you make big decisions, life says, 'Fuck you. This is what you actually have in store.

My grandmother was an actress too. In the thirties and forties she was under contract with Universal Studios. Crazy credits, lots of them. My dad was also under contract with Universal Studios. And my first film was shot on the same stage they both worked on at Universal.

Musical theater is great; you get painted up, you get to play princesses and witches, and you sing. The joy alone of that can really carry a lot.

I have a romantic vision of the beautiful delineation between TV and film that existed for so many years. I romanticize the studio system and movie stars as a whole, but obviously that's just anachronistic and probably a non-reality.

My father has been an actor since 1964. Things were tight a lot of the times, financially. It wasn't like a big romantic adventure.

I'm so envious of that genetic wiring that immediately puts a smile on your face. My genetic wiring just puts creases in my eyebrows.

For me, fragrances are very - one of these beautiful art forms that bring about a whole host of things. It's what you want to smell like, it's memories that make you smile or are resonant of times in your life, it can remind you of music. If you're a lover of scent, it's a very kind of particular and evocative thing.

I talk to myself, especially in the car.

I love the '40s. I love the '50s. I love the style, I love the clothes. I love how the women looked. I love the dances. I love the music. I love the amber of the light. I'm just in love with the cars. I'm in love with all of it.

I do like dating cynics - they tend to be incredibly funny.

I enjoy dating. I love first dates. I think they're incredibly fascinating studies in human psychology. When you sit down across from someone on a first date and things are going alright, you talk objectives. We want to win each other over, so how do you win someone over? You have to put the best foot forward.

We come from fallible parents who were kids once, who decided to have kids and who had to learn how to be parents. Faults are made and damage is done, whether it's conscious or not. Everyone's got their own 'stuff,' their own issues, and their own anger at Mom and Dad. That is what family is. Family is almost naturally dysfunctional.

My nana was an actress, my mom was an actress, and my sister, too. So because I was surrounded by it, it really came naturally.

Imagination is a pretty powerful thing, and when you're in the moment and you're riding a train and you're asked to look scared, I don't know, it just kind of works out. And in those moments where you're actually doing some of the stunts, then it's not so hard at all, because there's an actual fear there.

I feel prematurely old. I'm actually having this major belated quarter-life crisis. I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking a lot about mortality. A lot about what I'm going to do with my life and how to enjoy it. One of the things I'm going to work on is being more spontaneous, letting go, embracing the beauty of come-what-may.

Whether you're scared of getting into a relationship or taking the new job or a confrontation - you have to size fear up.

Fear runs our lives. It doesn't matter who you are. You have to understand your relationship with fear. Whether you're scared of getting into a relationship or taking the new job or a confrontation - you have to size fear up.

There are going to be good times and bad times, but lighten up.