“It’s really bizarre because no one knows this, but elephants have killed more animal trainers than any other animal.”

With age, you get to a place where you don’t want to knock people out. You just want to give people a hug.

I always want another actor to shine in my scene because it makes the film stronger. I would encourage people to scene steal, because filmmaking is a collaborative effort.

My mother is the most supportive mother in the world, she’s magical.

When I’m writing, I’m locking myself in a room. I’m the worst critic in the world. I write something and then I beat myself up. I’m like “Vin, you’re retarded, that makes no sense.”

I’m an actor. I can do whatever I want. As an actor, not everything has to be the most obvious choice. And sometimes, the best thing you can do is to defy expectations.

I’m not really afraid of the dark, except if I’m walking. The thing that scares me the most is the possibility of walking into a wall and busting my lip.

When people believe in you, you can do miraculous things.

When I was a child actor, I had the fear that I was going to be cast as the tree.

I’m going to do my best to channel the character on a spiritual level.

The films that I do are deep, introspective, brooding roles that you’re in this heavy headspace all the time.

I envision the future sunny and with love, harmony and oneness. I think Hollywood is changing.

I’ve directed independent film.

My mom used to say that I became a fighter and a scrapper and a tough guy to protect who I am at my core.

If you think about my filmography, I have never done a movie that a kid could go see, except for Iron Giant, and I’m not even on the screen.

Show me how you drive and I’ll show you who you are.

My gut feeling about sequels is that they should be premeditated: You should try to write a trilogy first or at least sketch out a trilogy if you have any faith in your film.

Besides love and sympathy, animals exhibit other qualities connected with the social instincts which in us would be called moral.

In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.

The world is filled with love-play, from animal lust to sublime compassion.

I’m a hard guy to live with. I’m like a caged animal. I’m up all night walking around the living room. It’s hard for me to come down from what I do.

Animals don’t hate, and we’re supposed to be better than them.

Just because an animal is large, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want kindness.

There is no fundamental difference between man and animals in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.