“It’s bad writing, however naturalistic it’s written, that’s where you have to do your best acting.”

I try to make all of my roles likeable in some way.

I don’t know anyone who’s going to see Grind 22 times in the theater. My mom. Some kid who has short-term memory loss and forgot that he’s seen it.

I’ve had to fight for roles and I’ve lost a hundred roles, but ‘Smoking’ and ‘Smith’ were phone calls. That’s the dream.

I always knew I was going to die in space.

I love movie-making. I’m interested in writing and directing, and I’ve dabbled, but I haven’t done anything I care to brag about. Yet.

I’m a fake intellectual.

I feel like Hollywood is a big high school again. Seriously, Ashton Kutcher is the prom king.

I always enjoyed movies and in hindsight I realise how captivating they were to me.

I like an interesting movie even if it’s controversial or offensive, depending on your taste.

I just want to be in good things that I want to see, and I want to work with talented people who are smarter than myself.

There’s no conversation more boring than talking about what it’s really like to live in Newport and how the show compares to the real thing. I just don’t care.

If I don’t direct a movie at some point, I’ve failed personally.

My best jokes are so cheap. All I do is say things sarcastically.

I worry that I can come off smarmy. I wonder if I was listening to myself if I’d want to kick my own ass.

Really, as long as I am working and have diversity, I am happy.

And in a world without heroes, as the movie trailer voice-over guy might say, the slightly awkward can be slightly cool.

We need to practice acting in spite of fear, in spite of doubt, in spite of worry, in spite of uncertainty, in spite of inconvenience, in spite of discomfort, and even to practice acting when we’re not in the mood to act.

Acting deals with very delicate emotions. It is not putting up a mask.

If you want to be an actor and you love acting, you can do it whether you’re doing something else or not.

For many years my acting came from a place of surmounting some enormous obstacle.

My first acting job happened by accident when I was really young.

They didn’t really have a choice because I got jobs acting before anyone could really say anything.

I think my being such a nomad let me into acting. I was always having to create a new image whenever we moved.

I think the performances that really communicate with me are the ones where I don’t feel like I’m watching someone and thinking: “They’re doing some really good acting.”