“I want the best product for my audience, and if I don’t care 100%, who will? It’s my name, my likeness that goes out there.”

I love things that are indescribable, like the taste of an avocado or the smell of a gardenia.

If I hear a record once, I usually never listen to it again. I rarely listen to music – unless it’s Billie Holiday.

Oh God, don’t envy me, I have my own pains.

Being a celebrity is a no-win situation. If you get along with your co-star you’re having an affair, if you don’t you’re having a feud.

I just don’t like the idea of her singing my songs. Who the hell does she thinks she is? The world doesn’t need another Streisand! (on Diana Ross)

I can take any truth; just don’t lie to me.

Men are allowed to have passion and commitment for their work… a woman is allowed that feeling for a man, but not her work.

Why is it men are permitted to be obsessed about their work, but women are only permitted to be obsessed about men?

Art does not exist only to entertain, but also to challenge one to think, to provoke, even to disturb, in a constant search for truth.

I wish I could be like Shaw who once read a bad review of one of his plays, called the critic and said: ‘I have your review in front of me and soon it will be behind me.’

Life’s too short. Start with Dessert!

I don’t like the word ‘superstar’. It has ridiculous implications. These words – star, stupor, superstar, stupid star – they’re misleading. It’s a myth.

There is nothing more important in life than love.

I worked in a Chinese restaurant.

A human being is only interesting if he’s in contact with himself.

I got sent to a health camp when I was about 6 years old, and we all had to wear the same starchy blue uniform. The lady who took care of me after school knit me a burgundy sweater. It was the only thing that gave me any individuality.

As long as I can do something that I am passionate about and that I can really enjoy and the audience can enjoy. That is where my enthusiasm comes from.

I want to show audiences I can act.

Having a story is what people connect with, but the story alone doesn’t allow you to achieve greatness and results. It’s the day-to-day consistency of providing value to your audience.

The whole idea is just to continue to make movies that I enjoy playing and that audiences are going to enjoy me in just to put out quality on a lot of different levels.

You never really know what’s going to happen. You never know what the audience is going to be like or how they’re going to behave.

If you check your ego at the door when it comes to comedy, you’ve got a pretty good shot at making a great movie that you can commit yourself to, you can jump off the proverbial cliff with, and have a great time, and the audiences respond to that.

The philosophy has always been pretty clean and straightforward, which is that if I see something that I like and I can see it’s value to the audience and it’s value to me then I’m going to take my shot at it regardless at the genre.

I try to bring the audience’s own drama – tears and laughter they know about – to them.