• "I love movies. I love movies and I love doing films. I love being able to play different characters. I love the atmosphere of a set when you come together for a film because usually you are on location somewhere you get into this instant sort of bonding family mode. It’s a really special experience; but mostly because I’m just generally a film fan. I think I prefer doing film. I do like the stability of TV. I’d like to be able to go top work everyday not something that you miss that in films because it’s a longer downtime between jobs. For now, I don’t have a family. I’m not having kids anytime soon and anything like that so I prefer to do the film thing because I have the freedom to do so and that’s what I’m really passionate about."

• On how often people mistake her for Sidney Poitier, for sharing her famous father's name
"All the time and I feel really bad about it. If I have to check into a hotel or if I’m on location or something and they have me under my name, Poitier, and I go to check in and they are so excited all day and they think my dad’s coming and I check in, and then the frown on their faces sets in. You could just see the disappointments and I really feel bad when stuff like that happens, but sometimes it works to my advantage because I get an extra special room. They can’t take it back because that would be rude."

• On co-star Kurt Russel
"He was so great. He’s such a cool guy. He’s just a really down-to-earth cool dude. He was open and generous. We’re a group of girls and he would come around and chit-chat with us in between takes and laugh with us. Quentin has this huge booming laugh and all you would hear in between takes was the two of them cracking up."

• On auditions and doors opening after Death Proof
"It’s always a challenge and it’s still challenge. This movie hasn’t come out yet and I hope that when it does, that it may be less of a challenge. I don’t really know. I’m a little spoiled now. Once you do a Quentin Tarantino film and you say that dialogue, and you’re in a move that being made by someone who is so passionate about films, it’s going to be hard to top the experience but I do hope to play more roles that are at least close to what I was able to do in this film that are really fleshed out, that really multi-faceted, interesting characters."

• "There’s a lot of movies that are not so great that are being made and it’s really hard because you really want to work but you also want but you also want to do a certain kind of work and so I’m just reading a bunch of stuff and I’m just looking for that next thing that impassions me."

• "I would definitely consider myself a music lover. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say I'm a music buff in terms of, like, my knowledge of music but music is a big part of my life, and I love all different kinds of music, and I play in a band actually, I play drums. So yeah, I obviously, I love music."

• On her favorite movie genre (at the moment, quoted in 2007)
"I'm kinda into this like ass-kicking, cool woman, you know, female empowerment stuff, so I wouldn't mind doing more of that"

• On acting
"It was always what I wanted to do, from the time that I can really remember. As I got older I did a little dabbling in High School, just in class. I never worked professionally but I took acting classes. When it came time to go to college I made the decision officially to become a drama major, I went to NYU. I went through all of college and still wasn't working professionally but was doing a lot of theater in school, and then after I graduated I just started."

• "I've found out that I really, really enjoy comedy. It's got a rhythm all its own. When I did theater in college, I was petrified before I went onstage. But being in front of live audiences has loosened me up. It's been good desensitization for me. Sitcom audiences are different-they're totally on your side."

• Her parents reaction to her wanting to be an actress
"They were always supersupportive. But I was encouraged to have some sort of backup plan. They wanted me to be cautious and to know just how difficult it is to have an acting career. So while they were supportive, they were also smart and tried to get me to think things through."

• On her father's success and if it helps her with her own career
"For an actress, it's priceless having somebody to talk to who's a veteran of the business. And people are naturally curious [about me], because I share the same name with him. I mean, you really can't ignore it. It's funny: I use "Tamiia" professionally, because the Screen Actors Guild said you can't have two actors with the same exact name."