I don’t attribute an actor’s great success to their own individual performance when it’s something as collaborative as a movie.
The more people say nice things about me, the more I feel it’s false.
I live in New York City, where, if you’re in a movie at a popular independent theater, you think you’re king of the world, because you’re in a bubble. So there’s no way for me to properly conceive of the attention that the movie gets in a way that doesn’t make me confused.
Often times, being in a popular thing means that you have to compromise your own acting.
No one should be offended – that’s not my style.
When playing a role, I would feel more comfortable, as you’re given a prescribed way of behaving. So, both Facebook and theatre provide contrived settings that provide the illusion of social interaction.
I find it very difficult to do normal things without getting approached.
Everyone’s a geek in some way or other. Everyone’s an outsider.
I feel like when I was 13 and I had to go to bar mitzvahs every weekend. This is the same feeling. You have to put on a suit every weekend to go meet with a bunch of Jews.
I grew up in an apolitical household. I never left the country. When I became an adult, I started traveling and became interested in politics, and I probably talked about things in a silly, ignorant way.
I just can’t – I can’t exist in normal group situations. A classroom, where you have to sort of jockey for position, compete for attention – I would just withdraw.
Acting is a weird profession. It’s very disquieting, and at the time it just made me so confused. It’s only when you step away from a movie for several weeks or months that you start to put things in perspective.
Where I feel something that I had written was misinterpreted in a way that made people feel bad, that is absolutely horrifying to me. I feel so embarrassed and I feel ashamed that I should make people feel bad.
Poor people are gross and they ’smell bad.
It’s a struggle for me to watch things I’ve been in because I’m just distracted and self-critical.
I think there’s nothing more wonderful than using fiction to reflect real-world cultural ideas.
I find people who want to help other people to be the most interesting. I come from a family of teachers, and my friends are teachers, often times in very difficult school situations.
I can’t watch myself in interviews. I feel like I look like a wreck. My mom is always calling me and going, ‘Stop fidgeting,’ and it’s like, ‘You have no idea what it’s like, Mom.’
I’m hardly the most notable person in ‘Zombieland.’ The other actors in it are way more famous than I am.
If I get no sleep the night before a show, I feel that performance is the best one.