A heroic nature is very Greek.
When you're playing the good guy, you want to find the dirty parts - and when you're playing the bad guy, you want to find the vulnerability.
It's very hard to just break into movies. I always felt like it would be giving up a theatre career to go and try and be in movies. So, I thought I'd exhaust the theatre thing, go as far as I can, and originate roles, be on Broadway, maybe win some Tony Awards, and then hopefully some door would open. Luckily, it did.
When I went to LA I was almost 30, I'd been nominated for two Tony awards, and on the New York theatre scene I was pretty well known. I went out to LA to meet with casting people, and I remember walking into one meeting and saying: "Hey, how are you? I'm Patrick..." And they said: "I'm so sorry! I thought you were British!" When I asked why, she replied: "Because you're 30 and I've never heard of you!"
I did have Skidz overalls. Remember Skidz, those baggy plaid pants that look like pajamas? So I did rock overalls, but not in purple velvet. I couldn't find those.
At an early age my dad - probably because he's a journalist - said: "Just have something to say. Don't just blather. Always have one line in your mind." So, that was always my thing whenever I met someone when I was younger, if ever I got to meet a real celebrity.
I knew I wanted to go to college and I wanted to study it acting, so I just looked for the best school that I could get into. Luckily, I had very supportive parents. I went to a conservatory that is basically drama school. You take one English class and one history class for four years but you don't take any other science or anything like that. It's strictly, from 7am until night, all acting. It's a lot. Some people find it too much, but for me I was preparing for a career and I never really looked back.
I remember seeing Extreme play with [Debra] Winger and Cinderella. Gary Cherone was wearing purple velvet overalls with no shirt and saddle oxfords.Afterward, I went home and told my mom, "I need to find saddle oxfords." And she said, "Like little girls wear?" Naturally, I couldn't find them in my size, so I went to a shoemaker and had him make me a pair. I wore them for a while, but they didn't seem as cool on me, because when your foot is size 12, they sort of look like clown shoes.
You never want to judge your character.
For me, it doesn't matter whether it's a comedy, a Western or horror. As long as you've got a good story to tell, the genre almost doesn't matter. As an actor playing the role, it's all rooted in reality.
You have to know what you're shooting. Don't just make your movie in the editing room and just get everything you can on the day.
I like the not knowing of what the next job is.
When you shoot a movie so quickly you can't really afford to shoot a bunch of extra footage because you don't have that luxury.
There are tons of different reasons why you do TV series and why you don't, and how it'll affect your career, and all that. Without a doubt, it has always come down to the script for me. I'm an actor who wants to do great parts, and I've been very fortunate, for a long time, to get meaty roles.
I think you have to pick and choose what is most important to tell the story.
A wide receiver like me wouldn't have won. The quarterback - or even the running back - always wins.
I just want to do as many different genres as I can. I think that's part of it... to not get pigeon-holed because if one of them breaks out and becomes a big hit then typically people want to keep putting you in that kind of role.
The blessing and the curse of not having a huge hit... you can go in and out of roles and some people know who you are and some people don't. I'd love for one of these movies to be super successful because then at least you're presented with more opportunities.
It was always acting for me, since I was about 15. My middle brother always wanted to be a news anchor, so we always felt that he'd be the one to take over for dad, so we could go and do our thing.
I grew up around media so for me I've always been interested in that topic, whether it's a complete satire or a documentary. I love anything that touches on the state of information versus entertainment and what's newsworthy and what's not.
You know, I gotta be honest. I have not done a lot of CGI work. I just haven't. I mean, there were hundreds of effects in Watchmen, and I probably dealt with almost none of them, because all my stuff was very practical.
It's frustrating sometimes for actors because you slam it out and you have a great time, you think it's funny, and then for whatever reason the movie doesn't come together.