“There has been a lot of self-doubt and unwelcome events in my life.”

An actor basically likes to be asked to do something, no matter what position he’s in. It feels more natural. Sitting and waiting is more gratifying.

Lee Strasberg is like that, my grandfather was like that. These are the kinds of men I’ve had close relationships with.

I didn’t go for the needle at all. I never cared for drugs, because I saw what they did to most people. I thought that was the end of the road.

Either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals.

There’s something to learn from it. I’ve had movies that have failed colossally, so you kind of analyze your failures.

I turned down a lot of films before I made my first one. I knew that it was time for me to get into movies.

You’ll never be alone if you’ve got a book.

One of the things that made me want to be an actor more than ever was seeing a Chekhov play, “The Sea Gull,” when was 14 in the Bronx.

We live in a world where the more you’re working, the more things you do. It’s a workaday world.

Drinking and smoking grass were a part of my life as far back as I can remember.

Actually, the person I related to was James Dean. I grew up with the Dean thing. Rebel Without A Cause had a very powerful effect on me.

There is only one way of surviving all the early heartbreaks in this business. You must have a sense of humor. And I think it also helps if you are a dreamer. I had my dreams all right. And that is something no one can ever take away.

Early on in my career, I remember running – fleeing – to the theater as a way of coping with all the meshugaas that was going on for me.

Women have always had equal importance onstage, and working with them must have altered my sensibilities.

Their minds, the way in which they se the world is so striking, the way they juxtapose things, the way they can see humor in people. There’s a liberation in that.

When my mother got home from work, she would take me to the movies.