There is no trick to writing a believable love story, a heartbreaking scene or real-sounding dialogue. All you need is to tell the truth. It’s always heartbreaking.
I’ve had different opportunities in my life, but I’ve tried to maintain the spirit of an amateur. Our culture roots everything in the barometer of success and how much money you make. But if you really just aspire to a life in the arts, it’s really not a barometer at all.
Success isn’t measured by what you achieve, it’s measured by the obstacles you overcome.
Nothing teaches you like getting leveled. And I got leveled in my early 30s. Nothing went exactly the way I thought it would.
I auditioned for Robert Redford once and I was so starstruck I couldn’t even speak. I had a mic wire at a screen test clipped to me and then I got kind of nervous and I paced in a circle and then took a step and tripped and fell on my face. You just have to forgive yourself and keep going on.
Everyone has to pay their child support, and no matter if you’re a Hollywood actor or anyone else, it’s always a little bit more than you want to pay.
The older I get, the more I realize how rare it is to meet a kindred spirit.
There’s only so often you’re going to have an opportunity to contribute at a high level and that you should be grateful whenever one presents itself and not take it lightly.
I’m horrified to admit that I just love Salinger. I was devastated to find out that other people feel the same way.
Read. It makes you more intelligent. It’s that simple. We all see the universe through the tiny keyhole of our own eyes, and every book is another keyhole from which you can gaze.
Directing is like putting together a collage.
I’ve had several moments in my career where it seemed like I might not age out of the bracket the world wants to put you in. It’s hard to keep growing up inside the performing arts. It’s very difficult, and presents a lot of unique challenges.
I kill flies, I eat meat, you know, whatever.
I think that as soon as you think of yourself as a famous person or anything like that, you’re objectifying yourself in some weird way.
One of the things that separates a good genre movie from a bad genre movie, I always think, ironically, is when you care about the people. The dime a dozen ones are where you don’t have any awareness of the character.
In your mid-twenties, the paint is still wet on who you are.
I did one sci-fi movie. I did ‘Gattaca.’ I liked ‘Gattaca’ because that was always the kind of science fiction I really dug, the non-action oriented sci-fi.
The more kind of head trippy sci-fi. I always like that. I was a big ‘Twilight Zone’ freak.
It just makes sense to remember gratitude and the place that gratitude should have in your life, and that none of us are owed these wonderful experiences, and we should always make the best of them.
I think it’s my job to risk looking foolish. One of the things I’ve learned from the actors I’ve worked with is you don’t get something for nothing. If you don’t risk looking foolish, you’ll never do anything special.