The great, rewarding thing about directing is that you’re overseeing the whole thing. When you’re an actor, you’re just one department.
I don’t like to give out advice. I make suggestions when I get to know somebody a little bit, but I don’t know about advice.
Actors don’t generally go asking other actors for advice too much, but I’ll take suggestions wherever I can.
These are people who haven’t gone through the legal means to becoming citizens like our forefathers did. They want all the benefits but none of the responsibilities.
It’s important to air your concerns and fears with someone you trust. When you’re honest about how you can change and grow, and where your weaknesses are, then you open the door for improvement and change.
I don’t worry about whether a character is likable, as long as the character is believable.
I grew up with the white picket fence. My dad went to work nine to five, and he had a station wagon.
I had acting teachers, and one of the things that was encouraged was to keep it fresh, to be spontaneous. That’s the magic of film often.
I like to do comedy, but I’ll be perfectly honest, I prefer to do drama and more character-driven-based stuff, generally.
I think anytime you can do something you haven’t seen or done in a film before, it’s always a great day as an actor.
I used to make fun of the kids in school who acted or went to dance class.
I’m not a Buddhist, or a card-carrying member of any religion.
In politics there are so many holes, so many contradictions, you don’t know what’s happening.
I don’t consider myself a Hollywood liberal, but I have my convictions and my beliefs.
It’s tough when you started out as young as I did to look back and see how far I’ve come. I try to be easy on myself and go ‘Look man, you were younger, you were learning; you learn, you grow.’ But I’m not my best judge. I always feel like my best work is still ahead of me.
Acting is very competitive. There are few good scripts out there and the ones that are good are very competitive. You look at your options and often times they’re not too appealing.
As an actor, you can’t be off the market for too long.
I don’t like movies where everything happens fast. I like the buildup, the obstacles, the mystery.
I look for really great characters. I say great because as long as they’re really good, there’s something you can do. And really good storytelling. And when people ask me what the story is, I say it’s really several stories really. They’re intermeshed.
It’s really nice to be able to do something that you’ve never done. I think that’s the gift of being an actor because I get to play a cop, a racist cop and I’ve never done that before. It’s nice to inhabit these other worlds especially when you get to work with great actors.
I like conflict, drama’s conflict and if you don’t have that in the character it’s really not a worthwhile role to play for me.