“Putting on weight is easy all the way through. But after the first couple of weeks, the novelty wears off very quickly, and your body is groaning and starting to really shout at you, saying, ‘Why? Why? Why? Why are you doing this?’”

You have to treat yourself like a mushroom to some degree, in order to keep on discovering things.

My dad was the biggest influence on my life because he was never boring.

It’s got to do with putting yourself in other people’s shoes and seeing how far you can come to truly understand them. I like the empathy that comes from acting.

I start from scratch with each movie; I wipe the slate and I certainly don’t rely on some bag of acting tricks I’ve amassed over the years.

Art is something to be proud of. Art is no compromise. As an actor, you’re giving it up, you’re at the mercy of so many other people.

Essentially, I’m untrained, so I just go with my imagination and try to put myself as solidly as I can into the shoes of whatever person I’m going to be playing.

The art of survival is a story that never ends.

As an actor, I don’t feel like it’s necessary to watch a great deal of films. In fact, I think it can lead to imitation and unhealthy competition, which just isn’t needed.

In terms of the romantic kind of lead, I just never enjoy those movies very much. Maybe they’ll come to interest me more as I get older. I doubt it, but maybe. Romantic comedies tend to be, for me, an oxymoron.

And being as I’m somebody who loves movies like The Machinist, I also love going along to big mass entertainment movies. I get in the mood for all kinds of movies, and so I like to try each of them.

I feel like I’m pretty good but I don’t like to toot my own horn, you know. I want to let the work speak for itself and kind of move on to the next thing.

I think trying too hard to be sexy is the worst thing in the world a woman can do.

Whatever you do, do it completely. Don’t do it half-arsed. Do it more than anybody else would.

The only thing that I’m obsessed with is sleeping, and actually, it is more than an obsession, it is a pleasure.

The only thing I would unequivocally say is that I have never had any interest in romantic comedy I just couldn’t do it. I think I’d be terrible.

I find what I do for a living really funny. I mean, acting is kind of a hilarious thing for a grown man to call a job.

Habits are like comfortable beds. They are easy to get into, but difficult to get out of.

I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a teacup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.

It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get.

A spiritually established life is not an easy task. But a materially satisfied life is an impossible task.

One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. I have spent many months on a first paragraph, and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily.

It’s so easy to focus on what could go wrong, on what else you could do before you try the thing you really want to do. No. Just get out there and try.

Everything that is hard to attain is easily assailed by the generality of men.

The path of a cosmonaut is not an easy, triumphant march to glory. You have to get to know the meaning not just of joy but also of grief, before being allowed in the spacecraft cabin.