Barack Obama did tell me that I was one of Michelle Obama’s favorite actors.
There is no substitute for hard work. Always be humble and hungry.
In 1995 I had $7 bucks in my pocket and knew two things: I’m broke as hell and one day I won’t be. You Can Achieve Anything!
Always asked, ‘What’s the key to success?’ The key is, there is no key. Be humble, hungry, and always be the hardest worker in the room.
It’s easy to be a bad ass, it’s easy to act like a bad ass, easy to act like a tough guy, it’s easy to be a diva, and it’s easy to be self absorbed. The list goes on and on but to me, I always just find it more important to be nice and kind.
I tell you, the arts – and especially ballet – the discipline is extraordinary. I was extremely impressed.
There’s something very cool as an actor when you have an opportunity to play somebody who’s real, whether they’re still alive or not, but who has lived a life.
My goal as an actor is to grow and try different things.
As an actor, you can have your own backstory and prepare all the details that you need to know for your character.
If you are halfway smart, and you could really listen to the audience, you could really learn a lot.
As long as I can do something that I am passionate about and that I can really enjoy and the audience can enjoy. That is where my enthusiasm comes from.
The whole idea is just to continue to make movies that I enjoy playing and that audiences are going to enjoy me in, just to put out quality on a lot of different levels.
The philosophy has always been pretty clean and straightforward which is if I see something that I like and I can see its value to the audience, its value to me, then I’m going to take my shot at it, regardless of the genre.
When you’re in sync with the director, on the type of movie you want to make, the arc of the characters, how the characters intertwine and interact, plotlines and story, and things like that, it really makes a difference.
When I was a kid, I was always enamored by – I appreciated the movies, and I was able to see them on VHS when I was a kid, but I was so enamored by the one-sheets and the posters. I had them in my room when I was a kid.
If you’re going to make a comedy and if your sole interest is in making people laugh and feel good and entertaining them, then you check your ego at the door.
I’m more patriotic than I am political – I appreciate politics but I’m not quite too sure if that’s a road I’m willing to go down.
If I like it, if I think the character is going to be fun, if I think the story is good and if it appeals to me, then I want to do it.
If you make a good family movie, then everybody in the family can relate to somebody, or in this case something. That’s always enjoyable. There’s always an important place for family movies.
Great success breeds a lot of things, including sequels.
Any time I’m on-screen it is realistic because I don’t pull my punches or anything like that.