Every character I play has to be the hero of his own story, the way we’re all heroes of our own lives.
I think it’s a room full of insecure actors, which is ultimately very comforting.
Devils don’t come from hell beneath us, they come from the sky.
I personally don’t feel the need to be radical for its own sake, but I probably couldn’t if I tried anyway.
I like driving; I don’t drive since I live in New York. I don’t have an opportunity to drive, like, ever.
If you’re acting, then there’s a prescribed way to behave; whereas in life there’s no prescribed way. So acting feels like a comfortable way to get through the day.
I think I’m an abstinence symbol. If I take my shirt off, people will not have babies.
It’s really hard to copy another actor and be successful. In fact, that’s usually the reason people are not good, because they’re copying something they’ve seen, but, for some reason with their face and their body, it doesn’t work.
Acting is kind of difficult to intellectualize – it’s a far more visceral experience. It’s really hard to be able to think about and then employ these kind of esoteric notions of this person’s backstory and try to weave it in somehow. It’s just kind of impossible.
It’s a really unique acting opportunity to play two roles who are not only interacting with each other, but vastly different.
When you take on a role you try to do as much as possible beforehand to get your mind into it. Just to prepare because it’s a daunting prospect to go six months or whatever.
I don’t watch the movies I’ve been in. I try to stay as little aware of the final product as possible, because my job doesn’t really change.
Everybody feels like they need a photograph because we’re in a generation where, if you don’t document it, it didn’t occur. So you’ve got to stop and take a picture with everybody.
The truth is people are very nice. The other truth is, it’s very annoying to be constantly interrupted. I don’t love myself enough to want to share myself with everybody.
I think I prioritize other people’s opinions of me very highly, which is not necessarily a good thing – it’s a thing that causes a lot of anxiety.
A lot of times the character’s experience is not in accordance with the tone of the movie and it’s not really my job to account for the tone of the movie. That’s the director’s job.
When you’re on set you don’t realize the way something is going to look since you’re on the other side of the camera.
Working in the arts, you see people who come from terrible circumstances and who, for whatever reason, have incredible talent. But of course, with that great talent comes some guilt because, if you come from circumstances that don’t encourage it, it can be really confusing.
I give credence to the worst things somebody writes about me, and if somebody writes something nice, I think they’re wrong or false or lying or joking.
I tend to prefer the smaller movies because they shoot more efficiently and so you’re are able to maintain that momentum of the character a little more easily.
It’s a very strange experience to watch yourself in a movie anyway. I most frequently don’t do it, but if I was going to do it, I would do it in a private way, not at a public screening at a film festival, which is just an overwhelming experience.