When I was 6 I thought that I wanted to be a musician - like a singer-songwriter. That's what I romantically envisioned for myself. But in reality the experience of getting into music was just the opposite. My parents signed me up for classical guitar lessons, which made for two years of the most depressing Wednesday evenings.
I have to remember that I didn't have to become an actor. I didn't have to put myself in this position. If I'd wanted to have autonomy - if that was what I was after - then I could have chosen another profession.
I realized that after finding this thing that allowed me to express myself - acting - and being encouraged by a few people that I could do it, I had kind of grabbed onto it and dug in my claws in a way that was maybe a bit unhealthy. I allowed myself to get into a headspace where I lived or died by what I achieved in this particular field.
In secondary school I was floating - I wasn't passionate about anything. I did a little sport, but it was pretty joyless because the competitiveness was too much to bear.
Obviously there's something very seductive about movies, which can be attractive in a bad way if you're doing them for the wrong reasons - for money, or for fame.
I think above all else [The Social Network] is a love story. And something of a tragic one, I suppose.
My parents signed me up for classical guitar lessons, which made for two years of the most depressing Wednesday evenings.
As an actor, one is so appreciative when one is working. I think I am lucky that I have the opportunity to work having that total dependence on an external validation.
I have very strong feelings about what modern fame means, and the toxicity of it. I read Naomi Klein's No Logo when I was 15. It's one of the things that's shaped my relationship to fame - to endorsements, to selling things. I've taken a certain path in terms of all that stuff.
