They said it: The best of Fast Chat

Fast Chat has been a regular feature of Fanfare since 2000. Since its debut, our writers have spoken with more than 500 entertainers, many of whom have had some truly revealing things to say. Here's a year-by-year sampling:

"What I am going through and have gone through, dreams and desires, my defeats and triumphs have hammered me into the particular person I am." --WILLIAM SHATNER (8/6/00)

"The thing I've been reading lately are the Harry Potter books. . . . I'm ashamed to let anybody know I'm reading them because I'm a serious reader, but they're so much fun!"--DOLLY PARTON (4/1/01)

"I'm very neurotic. I mean, I'm not into S&M or anything, but I'm compulsive." -- RAY ROMANO (3/24/02)

"I don't feel like I have a lot of deep-seated rage pent up somewhere. I just find yelling and inappropriate behavior really funny."--WILL FERRELL (11/16/03)

"To keep my mind occupied, I try to come up with strange inventions; I think of myself as an inventor." -- WHOOPI GOLDBERG (11/14/04)

"I never know quite where I belong. I never feel I entirely belong here [USA]. I never feel I entirely belong in England."--NATASHA RICHARDSON (8/14/05)

"I've never been the kind of guy that just walks up to a girl, a complete stranger on the street, and says, 'Excuse me, I was just wondering.' "--LL COOL J (4/23/06)

"When I'm dead, I'll be dead! Legacy. Who cares about that?"--ANTHONY HOPKINS (10/28/07)

"I'd be frightened for my children if they went into it [acting]."--COLIN FIRTH (4/27/08)

"I've always just wished that maybe someday, people would care about the words that I wrote."--TAYLOR SWIFT (6/7/09)

"I'm my worst critic. I'm the hardest person on me. I've been like that forever." -- MARY J. BLIGE (1/3/10)

"I refuse to go away."--BROOKE SHIELDS (2/6/11)