“When I was growing up, This is Spinal Tap [1984] was the ultimate comedy, and it was the kind of thing I wanted to do. But you get to a point with parody where you can’t go much further because ultimately it’s feeding off of somebody else’s creativity.”

It was Mick Jagger’s idea.The other one was Simple Plan, based on a novel by Scott Smith. It’s a great book – really stark, not a comedy – about a guy who finds $4 million in a plane crash and decides to keep it.

I don’t have a burning desire to be taken seriously as an actor. I don’t have a master plan in that way.

If you look at my eyes when I’m dancing, you’ll see that glazed look.

There’s an old saying in Hollywood: It’s not the length of your film, it’s how you use it.

The big-name stars . . . are always going to be playing what they’ve played before if they want to remain so-called A-list stars. That’s why someone like Johnny Depp is doing more interesting roles not caring about the size of the movie.

I wanted to be funny for people who didn’t care about fashion at all, to just to kind of exist as a silly character.

I love New York. I was sad, depressed and incredibly moved by our fellow countrymen and what they’ve done. I wanted to give people a chance to see something funny, have a distraction.

Whatever talent I had, I’m sure it helped that my parents were in the business and that I grew up around actors, comedians and directors.

When you have kids you want to be able to go to movies and take the family too, and actually all enjoy it together. I don’t think there are that many great, live action family movies that everybody can enjoy.

Zoolander was more of my own sensibility.

The failure of The Cable Guy impacted my career. I had to start writing and acting again.

I don’t need a compass to tell me which way the wind shines !

It’s weird that people expect me to be funny. I find it a real burden when I’m expected to be humorous on talk shows.

I have not been an easygoing guy. I think it’s called bipolar manic depression. I’ve got a rich history of that in my family.

Fashion is so over the top.

I was a bad student. I liked archaeology actually, I was interested in maybe becoming an archaeologist but I was such a bad student and had such bad grades that I wasn’t going to get into any really good college so I fell back on acting.

If you are on to something creative, school can also inhibit you. The wrong teacher, man, can really mess you up.

In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.

You’ve only got 12 notes and however you mix them up is your thing.

Acting runs through my blood. There is some sort of creative desire to express myself and I would need that outlet. Otherwise I would be a nightmare to live with.

Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women.

Rather than making money I believe in making people happy, all other things are secondary. Money isn’t important, creative satisfaction is.

What happens with every role, you have to trick yourself, you have to creatively find ways to explore the mental state of your character.

I believe I experience creativity at every moment of my life.