When you feel that you can't fight it, you just go for it. When it comes to the arts, passion should always trump common sense.
As a kid I didn't root for the bad guys.
I will not hesitate. Not for a second.
There is a certain combination of anarchy and discipline in the way I work.
You do what you do best, try to stop guys like me
I always enjoy coming to Israel. Israelis are warm, they're energetic people. Forthright. Very smart. I always like smart people. They're nice people, you know. Aggressive, and I respect that aggressiveness because you need it in their situation.
I've never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being. I had to decide early on whether I was to be an actor or a personality.
The one thing I always talk about in terms of restaurants is consistency.
Movies are hard to make, and you have to work toward a common ethic and do your best. You don't want to work with people who don't care or who are acting out some neurotic, crazy thesis on the set.
When you are working hard, you don't have time for anything other than what you are doing in the scene and what the director wants.
You never know what you do that could be totally out of left field, which actually might work and give something fresh to the whole scene, to the character, whatever. If you have that with a director who then knows how to shape it, either in the direction, in the moment, or in the editing, then that's good.
I certainly know the difference between right and wrong.
When you make a movie, everyone should leave their own personal problems at home. When they start bringing those to set, filming can be very difficult... You don't need any extra drama. Put the drama into the story, in the characters.
It's a very stressful thing, directing a movie. You have the budget, you have the schedule, you are in certain confines, and you have everybody giving you advice about what to do.
My mother worked for a woman, Maria Ley-Piscator, who with her husband founded the Dramatic Workshop, which was connected to the New School. My mother did proofreading and typing and stuff or her, and as part of her payment, I was able to take acting classes there on Saturdays when I was 10.
You don't just play a part. You've got to earn the right to play it.
Good directors can bring certain things out of you, with their intensity or gentleness or sensitivity or understanding. They can make an actor feel he can do no wrong.
If we do a sequel, I want to beat somebody's ass!
When I think of a good restaurant, it's where the food has been consistent; there's always a consistency.
I love to find new people. It's not for the sake of their being new; it's because if you find someone who perfectly fits a part, that's such a great thing.
You draw on whatever’s relevant to the part you’re playing; it makes it more personal.
Everyone's always interested in a dark theme, especially when there's humor connected to it. It seems like that helps, if that's an integral and organic part of the whole story.
I spent lunchtime in a grave during the filming of 'Bloody Mama.' When you're younger, you feel that's what you need to do to help you stay in character. When you get older, you become more confident and less intense about it - and you can achieve the same effect.
I didn't have a problem with rejection, because when you go into an audition, you're rejected already. There are hundreds of other actors. You're behind the eight ball when you go in there.
I think Hollywood has a class system. The actors are like the inmates, but the truth is they're running the asylum.
