I've done several commercials and I've done voiceovers for documentaries.
I had years of partying, and I was kind of surprised and happy I survived it all. Now, being a parent, I look back on it thinking, Oh God, the things you did!
Life is having its way with me now. And I'm really pleased.
Movies are like magic tricks.
Tightness gets in the way of everything, except tightness.
I'm not counting any chickens.
This idea of how everything is interconnected, and the impermanence of things.. It sums up the human condition to me, and it helps me on my path.
I don't think I ever went down that movie star path. I always enjoy taking a 90-degree turn from the last thing I did.
As an actor, a role can be a great excuse not to be in shape. I mean, you wouldn't want to see the Dude with a six-pack, so you eat that Haagen-Dazs. My weight goes up and down.
Sticking with a marriage. That's true grit, man.
Mania is a wonderful feeling.
Sure, I get the blues. But what I try to do, is apply joy to the blues, you know? I don't know if it's a technique, or just being bent that way, being raised by the folks I was raised by.
The Oscar nomination is great. It's a great pat on the back. And I like that.
I've got a closet full of tuxes, and I appreciate that, because one thing I don't like to do is shop.
I love John Irving's stuff. It's that marriage of comedy and tragedy. It's really terrific.
So many things have to come together to get a creatively successful and financially successful film. Sometimes you'll have a movie that you're very proud of, and you think it transcended all of your expectations, but it doesn't come out at the right time. I have done movies that have never been released. That can be depressing.
My brother's my teacher, my mentor, and we both learnt all the acting basics from our father.
One of the things I want to do that's outside the realm of acting and the arts - although both have their place in this - is ending childhood hunger here in America.
What are the aspects of yourself that line up with the character? You magnify those, and the ones that don't match up you kind of kick to the curb.
I think it's an impulse for human beings to want to suffer less, and we're kind of addicted to comfort at all costs - at least, I am.
The problem with the designated driver programme, it's not a desirable job. But if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At then end of the night drop them off at the wrong house.
Most cynics are really crushed romantics: they've been hurt, they're sensitive, and their cynicism is a shell that's protecting this tiny, dear part in them that's still alive.
I do a lot of ceramics.
I come from a family of teasers myself. My grandfather was from Liverpool, and he had a dry sense of humor, and he would tease us terribly. My brother Beau was so skilled in his teasing that he could get a rise out of me by simply pointing at me.
I'd maybe done about 12 movies when I decided that this was what I was going to do.
My m.o. as far as choosing projects is I really try not to work. I try to not do the scripts that are offered me. I'm in this wonderful position to be able to do that. The reason I do that is because I know what it takes once I engage, what that means for me personally and for my wife.
One of my favorite artists is Tom Waits, whom most people think of as a wonderful singer-songwriter and a great poet. I certainly think of him that way, but I also know him as a terrific actor. You know, that persona that he puts on when he's doing his music comes from being an actor, figuring out a persona.
My wife holds the kite strings that let me go 'weeeeeee', then she reels me back in.
Imperfection and perfection go so hand in hand, and our dark and our light are so intertwined, that by trying to push the darkness or the so-called negative aspects of our life to the side... we are preventing ourselves from the fullness of life.
I like people.
I look at the camera as sort of a missing link between motion picture photography and still photography.
Women are so - maybe this is just a male perspective, but for my money, they're so connected to life in a way that men aren't. They're able to give birth, have children, and it's literally a part of them. They perhaps have a stronger capacity for caring than males.
To go into therapy is an adventure, not really to iron anything out.
As far as the lack of hits goes, I think perhaps it's because I've played a lot of different roles and have not created a persona that the public can latch on to. I have played everything from psychopathic killers to romantic leading men, and in picking such diverse roles I have avoided typecasting.
There is one particular argument that I call our 'ancient war.' If it could be summed up in one phrase, it would be, 'You don't get it. You don't understand what it's like to be me living with you.' There is such truth in that statement. None of us can really appreciate what it is like to be the other person, what that point of view feels like.
A large part of acting is just pretending. You get to work with these other great make-believers, all making believe as hard as they can.