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I do struggle with how much and in which way, as an artist or celebrity, that you voice your political views.
There's one thing I've tried to work for my whole life-to try to play different kinds of guys and not do the same thing ever.
There's an ebb and flow, too, a natural progression in the organism of this business.
I'd love to be a pop idol. Of course, my groupies are now between 40 and 50.
There are very few things that are purely conceptual without any hard content.
There's the most resistance to an actor singing. It's like I'm being disloyal to my industry.
The independents should be a place where you can challenge the studios in terms of what they're doing.
Any idiot can get laid when they're famous. That's easy. It's getting laid when you're not famous that takes some talent.
If I'm in a situation where someone doesn't recognize me and treats me like everyone else, I'm not used to it.
It used to be that if a lousy movie did $100 million on the opening weekend, it would make me angry. But now, it's a good weekend for the movie business.
Those moments right before we invaded, I wish that I could have done something. But professionally, I don't go in that direction of choosing things based on personal politics.
I like to find something that's going through the studio system that interests me and allows me to still have some integrity about myself so I can stay part of that world.
A good director creates an environment, which gives the actor the encouragement to fly.
The business that people do in LA on the social level is amazing. You go to a restaurant, bump into this guy or that guy. The next day you get a call, and they want you in their movie.
I really love being an actor, and I wouldn't give it up; but playing music is an amazing feeling.
As I was coming up on the stage, there was one source that could make or break you, the New York Times. Inevitably there would be one actor singled out for a better review, or worse, than somebody else. The effect of that was cancerous, divisive.
I don't really worry so much about image. I try to just live my own life, my personal life, to my own sense of morality. In terms of the kinds of characters that I play, well, they could be anything.
Everything happens quickly, everyone's on the phone. He's hot, and then, He's not.
I'm always happier and a better actor when I can really lose myself in a character and become somebody else.
If you're in any other kind of business and you do well, you're the guy-you're running your own show.
Clint Eastwood has always been a hero.
I always watch rushes. They give me a sense of whether I'm going in the right direction. You work hard and hopefully get encouragement from what you see.
While we were filming we were hit with the big Northridge earthquake in LA. I've never been through anything like that before. The whole set starting falling apart.
If you're an actor, even a successful one, you're still waiting for the phone to ring.
People asked me after JFK what I believed, and I didn't care. You presume that people are on the side of their films' beliefs, but that's just not always the case.
I think actors sometimes don't give their characters a sense of place.
I used to think when I was a kid that the director was someone who came in and made you better and brought out this amazing performance.
Even the people that support Bush aren't happy with the way things are going in Iraq.
I was going into these very sad, lonely places, as well as all the physical stuff I was dealing with to make the movie: I was naked, shackled, and cold; they were putting bugs in my hair; and that was a real rat climbing up my leg.
I did not see M. I don't look at films to do films.
A lot of people believe in reading reviews. If I get too focused on some detail of what they've said about me, I'm going to end up shooting myself in the foot.
If you can be associated with films that make money, it creates more opportunities to do what you want to do, so it definitely helps.
Gary Oldman is impossible to steal a movie from. He's such a great actor, he's off the hook. I love him.
It does get old to have to always be a monkey in a zoo. I don't know what it's like any more to be anonymous.
I try not to make a decision based on what my salary is, because that's when the level of the movie is just going to go down.
I don't read my own reviews and I haven't for probably 15 years. I read other people's reviews, though.
I do better on the first three takes; I won't be better at 20 takes.
Critics can be your most important friend. I don't read criticism of my stuff only because when it's bad, it's rough-and when it's good, it's not good enough.
I'd really like to get the girl, shoot the gun, drive the car, have fun. I even have these kind of action dreams, where I'm the action guy.
It's probably just 10 hours out of 365 days in front of the camera, film in the camera. Not enough. It's not enough.
Doing the press, it's part of my job, so I do it with a smile on my face, but I'm not comfortable in the hot seat.
There are people who tell you to shut up because you're just a celebrity, but pundits, talking heads, they're every bit the celebrity and a lot of them aren't any more qualified than the average man on the street.
I read the script, I go away. If I have questions, I'll ask, but then I do my work. If you don't have it in 10 takes, you're not going to have it.
When I met Kyra, I didn't think I needed anyone. But I did. I needed her.
I've made three studio albums and one live one with my brother. It's melodic singer-songwriter acoustic-rock music.
I have a natural swagger.
Before Footloose, the things I'd done weren't cute. In Diner I was an alcoholic.
It's called the movie business because it's a business, and like any other business, people run to that thing they think they'll make money from.
I'd always tried not to worry about the size of the role or the size of the film.
Gary Oldman is impossible to steal a movie from. He's such a great actor, he's off the hook. I love him.
I did all the dialect work, all my character work completely by myself.
I like having both pictures coming out at the same time.
I felt really strongly, as a New Yorker, that the city bonded in a way that transcended race and sex and economic status. We had an opportunity that the president just completely blew. Now we've gone so far in the other direction in terms of war and danger.
LA kind of scares me.
I've lost jobs because of the TIMES.
I like directing. It takes a lot out of you, but I'd like to do it again-I just have to find a story I want to tell.
I didn't get into this so I could talk about my work, my movies. You become an actor to act.
Ninety-five percent of celebrity is good.
Living in New York definitely makes it difficult to be in the movie business.
There are some actor secrets you keep sometimes, and you want to keep.
If I say I'm only going to do the big-budget movies, then I'm only going to be doing the studio movies-and there go all those opportunities.
An audience would come having been fed something about how to react, and where you'd be getting tons of laughs at the preview, the next night there'd be dead silence because they'd been told that the piece isn't funny.
Everybody's got bills to pay. Sometimes you see people just go straight for the money, and that's disappointing.
I never think to myself that I'm working with a woman director or not.
I think we all have a lot of darkness in our bellies. As an actor, the challenge of tapping into that, reaching down into that sadness or anger, is very therapeutic.
I always wanted, and still aspire, to be something more than just one thing, just one performance.
I don't want to stop acting, but acting in some ways is a young man's game.
I lost a lot of weight. I'm thin as it is, but I was probably 50 pounds lighter; and if you're that skinny, your head starts acting sort of funny.
I just let the work speak for itself. An actor is not afraid to take risks; to put on different hats; to be a good guy, a bad guy, a victim, an abuser. There are all kinds of people in the world, and playing them is what acting is all about.
I don't have to do the lead. If I dig a part, I'll do it.
After so many years it's embarrassing to admit that I don't honestly know how much I want to be directed.
The studios, directors, casting directors, they pretty much want you to be the one you were in your last one.
A lot of times, the script is the thing they care about least.
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