“You have respect and reverence for your characters and the fact that you’re going to epitomize that person for the rest of their lives. They’re going to be judged based on your performance by millions of people. You have a certain responsibility.”

You can go left, you can go right, I don’t give a damn. Just make a decision.

I think women can be as cruel as men, and men as tender as women, and vice versa.

I can think of films that I’m producing right now that are extremely hard-hitting, graphic films, that nobody necessarily wants to see, graphic in terms of violence, of adult content and racial and historical subject matter.

Filmmaking is a difficult process. There are the logistics of making a film. You have to do your part, and then change the entire thing around to do someone else’s part. A lot of the magic is lost, in between that, and you have to figure out how to get it back.

I owned a 1972 Plymouth Valiant that we bought for $125. It was infested with cockroaches and geckos – it was its own little ecosystem.

But I guess I like playing flawed guys ’cause it gives a place for the characters to go.

I got as much information as I could, so I wouldn’t look stupid, but this is a post 9/11 world and there’s only so much you can do with the FBI in terms of research.

I think every actor wants to be an FBI or cop at one point.

The day you stop caring what other people think of you is the day your life begins.

The only morality in a cruel world is chance.

If it helps me in the way that if this movie is successful, I get to make more films, great, and the more films that I make and the more interest that I’m allowed to cover, the better for me and the better, hopefully, for the people who like to watch me.

Well, I’ve thought many times when my career was in the toilet, that I was going to have to seriously consider getting another job, I don’t know what I’d do.

I’ve been working for many years and I think I’ve managed to work with some of the best people in the business, which has been rewarding and an apprenticeship.

A GOOD old-fashioned sex tape pretty much guarantees you a star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Directors, producers can make you look good or make you look bad.

I’d like to do more family dramas.

A screen actor is compensated in the knowledge that millions will see his performance at one time, where only hundreds will see it on the stage.

The actor depends wholly on himself. He gives his performance in what, to him, seems the most effective manner.

I was very sick, with chills and sweats, but against my better judgement I let them talk me into singing. Of course I gave the performance everything

In the theater, I’ve found that, in general, reaction and laughter come easier at an evening performance, when the audience is more inclined to forget its troubles.

no work of art is ever finished, nothing is ever static, no performance is for keeps.

When I perform on stage I become those male bullies, those dominators from my childhood. That’s probably why it’s so scary, because they scared me.

Religion: ‘My identity is built on being a good person.’ Gospel: ‘My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on Christ’s.’

The performance is silent. The readers hear the sounds of the words and the beat of the sentences only in their inner ear. Silent drummers on noiseless drums. An amazing performance in an amazing theater.