I was turning up at sets where inexperienced people were making these badly written films - but they were doing it; that was the point. They were getting their films out there. And they were paying me, so they obviously had access to money. I just thought, 'I can make something better than this.'
I thought music could take you to a place where you didn't even feel ownership of it, you just felt lucky you were there. It's like church without God, or something. It's about feeling, hope and catharsis and things that are nurturing.
Usually, when you get early versions of scripts, they are not very good. I found 'Borgen' amazing from the very first read-through because of how fast-paced and gripping it was. It felt more international because of the way it didn't dwell on the characters' personal lives as many Danish shows used to, but still, nobody thought it would travel.
At the end of the 1960s, I was part of the downtown theatrical movement in New York that was making work in alleyways, garages, gyms, churches, non-traditional spaces. The idea was to get away from the illusion of the conventional theatre. But then I thought, what's wrong with illusion?
I never wrote. I also never really thought about being an actor. But when it was time to go to high school, we couldn't afford private school, so I tried out for all the special schools in New York.
Like all teenagers in the early '60s, I put down my hockey stick when the Beatles got big and picked up a guitar. We all thought we'd be rock stars. Then I got into comedy, but I'd always find a way to use my guitar, such as writing songs and doing musical parodies.
I probably don't look healthy, but I have never got to the stage where I thought I was going to pass out.
I'm used to the egos in the 1960s, '70s and '80s where people just expected massive success and thought it was their birth right to be successful.
When I was young, I thought I wouldn't be a good mother. Now I think I would be, but I'm too long in the tooth.
I always thought, if you're gonna do TV, you want to play a straight, solid, pillar-of-the-show kind of guy.
If you've grown up with guns, the thought that someone might take them away makes your stomach churn. They make you feel safe. If you didn't grow up with guns, if you don't know how to use them, then the thought that someone else has them makes your stomach churn.
I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. I grew up in a very Jewish neighbourhood and thought the whole world was like that. My parents were secular, but I went to a very Orthodox Jewish school, and I really got into it. I found it all fascinating, and I was just kind of really attracted to the metaphysical questions.
The first time I really listened to an album and thought, 'This album is mine,' was Kanye's 'Late Registration.'
To me the ego is the habitual and compulsive thought processes that go through everybody's mind continuously. External things like possessions or memories or failures or successes or achievements. Your personal history.
I never contemplated any kind of existence or identity after my career. I never thought at some point the entertainment industry is going to be through with me. And when it first occurred to me that my career was going to cease to be ascendant, then I freaked out.
I had tried writing novels for many years, and they always escaped me. For a long time, I thought, 'It's just not in me to write a novel. It's not something I'm able to do.' It seemed like everything I wrote naturally ended at the bottom of page three. A picture book, three pages; an essay, three pages.
When I first heard 'A Christmas Story, the musical,' I thought, Oh, that could be really good. It just felt like it fit. Some films lend themselves well to other formats, some don't, but there are so many fantasy sequences in the film, and Ralphie's such a dreamer as a character, I thought they could really lend themselves to being set pieces.
Before I modeled, I never thought I was beautiful. Even right now, I don't think I'm beautiful. I think it's my personality that makes my beauty different and unique. If you look in the past, Chinese people have always considered things like big eyes, pointy nose, or big lips beautiful. I had the same thoughts as a child watching movies.
I grew up making films and always thought that's what I wanted to do.
I have a deep and passionate love of America. It is where I have always thought I would be happiest, and although I miss England desperately, I find that my heart definitely has its home over here.
The last thing that scared me... it was probably something stupid, like when someone jumped out at me, or I thought my new dog had gone to the toilet underneath my piano. Lots of silly things.
You know, 10 years ago I never thought I'd be in this position. It's a dream and I don't even know if I dreamed this big.
At an event in Germany, I realised the organisers had 'The Great Escape' playing as background music to my test, and I just thought, 'It's really cool. I want that.' It is fantastic to ride to.
I was lucky that I started very young, since I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do. But my father is very conservative, and he never considered fashion to be a real career but something I could pursue as a hobby. He wanted me to be a doctor, and at one point, I thought of becoming a plastic surgeon.
I'm not in the K-1 tournament. We thought about it but they really don't want me as they feel I might get hurt so that's fine with me but I do see a lot of guys out there that I feel I can take.
If you had asked me when I was in Yale, I would tell you I never would have thought it would happen because I just didn't think of myself of having the Hollywood look.
When I was eight, I bought my first puppet. It was a monkey, and I paid five cents for it. I collected some scrap wood and built myself a puppet theatre. I made 32 cents with my first show, which I thought was pretty good, and that's when I knew I would be a puppeteer when I grew up.
Walking the runway with Alexander McQueen, I really had to dig deep. You're with Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. I was the first person out on the runway, but I thought, 'I have done the Olympics, I can do this.'
I was raised a Catholic on both sides of the family. I went to a Catholic grade school and thought everybody in the country was Catholic, because that's all I ever was associated with.
I first noticed my varicose veins when I was pregnant with my second child, and I'd always thought that it was something that affected older, inactive people. I looked at my lifestyle and thought, 'I can't be a candidate for this.' Eventually, the pain became something I couldn't ignore.
As a kid, I certainly never thought I would get to spend my life doing something fun.
I don't feel tentative when I start to write. I've usually thought about a novel or novella for several years and created a lot of juice and density and energy by that time so by the time I get ready to go, I just let 'er fling, you know.
A college degree was very important for them; it wasn't for me. So I picked English because I'm fluent. I thought it would be the easiest to do.
I thought my book was done, then we went to Hawaii and the whole last chapter happened.
When I first started acting, I never thought I'd be on TV or film. I always wanted to be on stage.
Things aren't always the fairy tale that you thought they were.
