When I was at school, I wanted to be a lawyer.
Dad's Jewish and Irish, Mom's German and Scotch. I couldn't say I was anything. My last name isn't even Downey. My dad changed his name when he wanted to get into the Army and was underage. My real name is Robert Elias. I feel like I'm still looking for a home in some way.
I'm the kind of person who does not want to be anywhere that I'm not wanted.
I might have made more money if I had outsourced to India, and I knew I'd find it easier to hire senior managers in London. But I wanted to be in Stoke. What could be more satisfying than creating work for 3,000 people in my home town?
I wanted to fold into the 'Hellraiser' narrative something about the guy - the Frenchman Lemarchand - who made the mysterious box, which raises Pinhead. I figured, 'Well, what would have happened to him?' He might well have been taken to Devil's Island, and I thought that would be a pretty cool place to start the movie.
In 1958, a year before the revolution, Magnum wanted to send me to Cuba because they had contacts with the rebels. I'd just spent six months in South America and said 'No', so I missed everything.
As a director, I've wanted to have adventure in my life, creative adventure. I think it's partly because I grew up, basically from age six to 26, mostly on television series where the producers find something that works and then do it over and over and over again.
I remember endless Apple v. Windows debates in the early '90s when I was in college. Macs were better machines, everyone said; the whole Office thing was a huge pain. It was difficult to transfer files between operating systems, and generally speaking, if you wanted to do Office stuff, you needed a Windows machine.
When I sang my father's songs in concert, that was all people wanted to hear. I was always asking myself, 'Can I measure up?'
I could do whatever I wanted as a girl, whatever my brother did. I could play against the boys and achieve whatever they did.
When I was really young, I was convinced I wanted to be a visual artist. I would paint and draw and make crafts.
Reviewers have called my books 'novels in verse.' I think of them as written in prose, but I do use stanzas. Stanza means 'room' in Latin, and I wanted there to be 'room' - breathing opportunities to receive thoughts and have time to come out of them before starting again at the left margin.
I never wanted to do 'The Hobbit' in the first place.
I wasn't really into school that much. I was in this building having to cram knowledge I didn't really care for. But on YouTube, I was able to create what I wanted and post it for people to watch.
When I was living in the projects, I had a mop stick for my horse. I wanted to be Gene Autry or Roy Rogers, so I would ride my mop through the projects.
Spider-Man has always been a huge part of my life. I love the movies. I love the comics. And I always just wanted to be Spider-Man.
I came to the United States to see what would happen in 2000 after working for 20 years in Australia and asked my agent to look out for the nasty roles because I'd become famous for playing the nicest man in Australia. So I wanted to play bad guys.
I got the acting bug really young, when I was around, like, 10. I pretty much just wanted to be Michael J. Fox. He was in 'Teen Wolf' - that was, like, the coolest role, and then he did 'Back to the Future,' and that was the coolest role.
I had no idea how to make it as an actor. But I knew I wanted to.
I now get to have the life I wanted when I was 18 years old. Now, I'm like, 'I can buy any skateboard I want.'
I keep getting asked out by really young, good looking boys and really ugly lesbians. So, even if I wanted to jump onto the tuna boat, I wouldn't because I'm not getting high-class babes that I should get at this level of my career. And I always know the ugly ones are serious and that the good-looking ones are goofing on me.
I wanted to be Cher for a long time, but not for the singing. I just thought she was so cool. I wanted her long hair, and I wanted to weigh five pounds.
Even though the Premier League is a special league, I have always wanted to stay loyal to Juventus.
As a kid, I wanted to be a sportscaster. On the radio. I loved the idea of painting a picture. I didn't want to be on TV. I wanted to be Jon Miller, who called all the Orioles games.
I wanted to become an artist because it meant endless possibilities. Art was a way of reinventing myself.
All I wanted was to be a regional-theater actor, to be in a company. I thought it would be a great life. I don't think I understood how difficult it would be.
I simply wanted to get through college as quickly as humanly possible. I had no interest in extracurricular activities or anything that required me to be social. I was allergic to people.
Applause is interesting, but I'm a monster with or without it. Something is either well written or it isn't. 'White Rabbit' is not well written, and no amount of applause or royalties can convince me it is. I could have done a better job with those lyrics. They didn't say what I wanted.
'Carrie Diaries' was one of the scripts that was sent my way, and it was instantly something I wanted to work on. It was very charming, and there's a lot of heart to it. It was touching and nostalgic and relatable, and it validates so many coming-of-age issues in an open and honest way. I think it speaks to real life.
I'm the person that's been that young, spunky kid that wanted to beat the top guys.
A lot of the point mags are going out of business. They dropped the pay tremendously and it's all because of the internet. I used to go out once a month to LA and shoot for one week. I'd make a ton of money then come back to New York and do whatever I wanted.
In my heart, my first desire was to be a dancer. I always wanted to dance and I danced from the time I was 7 till I was well into my 30s.
We're building the infrastructure we need, whether it be the Melbourne Rail Link, the airport rail link which Melburnians have so wanted for over 40 years, upgrading the Pakenham-Cranbourne railway line, or building the East-West Link.
The thing that means the most to me is being remembered as a Yankee, because that's what I've always wanted to be, was to be a Yankee.
I knew that Steve Harvey had a good, solid message to share, and I wanted to use my knowledge and skills as a relationship author to help him bring his message to those who were willing to receive it.
In my final year of attending a Christian sports camp in rural Missouri, the year before I started high school, they began to offer an elective Bible study group for young Christians who wanted a chance to read in the afternoons instead of learn to water-ski.
