In the 'Angel' days, all there was was a community that was like a chat room. If you were looking for feedback, you had to look for it.
The reason I'm an actor and am trying to make my way in drama is to move people, to affect people, to gain a response - so these people who come up to you in the street are your audience.
Dance has such an intensity to it. You become, in a way, an intense person.
I have butt muscles, thigh muscles, and then my upper body is super skinny - except for in my shoulders, which you need for a little bit of strength to hold other players off the ball. So I think I've developed muscles 100 per cent from just shooting the ball and running. Every single thing about my body looks like soccer.
The rule of songwriting: say what you want to say, say it again, say it a different way, then say it again.
Does anyone remember who shot Kubrick's movies? Do you remember who shot David Lean's movies? No one remembers who shot 'Dr. Strangelove' or 'Barry Lyndon.'
I started volunteering at an animal shelter, and little by little, my life started getting better. I think that is the secret. It is just being on a mission that is something bigger than me and it's thankless. You do that because it is thankless, and I am not looking for anybody to say, 'Thanks' and 'You are great!'
If you love helping people, and you love trying to bring comfort and peace to their life at a very, very difficult time, you're going to have to look pretty hard to find a profession that gives you more opportunities than the funeral business.
I think it's important to do a good job and not to feel that you've got to make grand gestures, but just to get on and deliver.
The more I thought to myself, 'Are my thoughts right, am I being obedient enough?' the worse it was... one of the most painful things you can experience in life is not so much physical pain, but being self-occupied. Because to the extent you are self-occupied, that's the extent you will be in pain.
It's weird talking about the album as a living being with its own thoughts and direction, especially if you're the one creating it.
I didn't know I was going to write for TV until I was suddenly writing for TV, so that kind of stuff can bewilder you.
Let's face it: in advertising, you are paid more, but you die younger. It's not very forgiving. Like sports stars, you're in it during your better years, and then you're out looking for work.
People just assume that if you're famous, you're in Hollywood.
You don't get a chance to go to the playoffs and World Series very often, but to be able to experience it with the people you love most in the world is really fun.
The content of Saul Leiter's photographs arrives on a sort of delay: it takes a moment after the first glance to know what the picture is about. You don't so much see the image as let it dissolve into your consciousness, like a tablet in a glass of water.
When you talk about fantasy, the usual problem is that whilst you've got the world of imagination, there are no controlling forces.
You can take the guy out of the neighorhood but you can't take the neighborhood out of the guy.
When you rest on your laurels is right when you have the risk. It exists for every company, no matter how big.
There is no way you can get people to believe you on screen if they know who you really are through television.
I love working and I love doing lots of things and a variety of things. It keeps your mind active... and you don't end up worrying about just the one thing. When I chew things over or analyze too much, that is when I can trip myself up.
If you have the ability and the wherewithal to create work that's basically in a discussion with the culture we're in, how could you not want to do that?
When you meet your kids, you realize that they deserve great parents. And then you have your marching orders, and you have to try and become the person that they deserve.
The party lines don't change, that's what makes them a party and you'd be a fool to think that just because there's a black man in there it's not gonna change the real foundation of the system. Especially when you look at his largest contributor to his campaign, AIG, one of the culprits in the economic meltdown itself.
I'm a journeyman actor. My experience as a journeyman actor is that you have to go where the work is. I've never been the lead; I've never been in that position.
The more deeply connected you are with the people that you're working with, the better the work and the character, and then, I think, that really translates to life. It will help you in life to be more grounded and genuine.
I feel like I'm the luckiest person alive. I'm always waiting for that phone call: 'Hello. We've just realized you're really a no-talent hillbilly. We've made a horrible mistake and we'd like you to leave now.'
You bring to chess facets of your personality and what you are. I have interests other than chess, like music and world and current affairs. I also have many friends around the world with whom I like to keep in touch.
For any actor, when you're playing twin brothers, you have to be able to find the similarities between them as well as creating a difference between the two characters. If they just looked the same, what would the point of that be?
If to live is to progress, if you are lucky, from foolishness to wisdom, then to write novels is to broadcast the various stages of your foolishness.
If you feel good about yourself, even putting a little bit of makeup - I don't usually wear makeup, but you know, someone said to me, 'Why don't you spend that extra five minutes to make yourself feel good?' And it's just a bit of self-care so you can go out and face the world, and I think we need that right now.
I don't think you can live as long as I have in rock n' roll and not take a few hard knocks.
Never rise to speak till you have something to say; and when you have said it, cease.
I think some people think I'm, like, anti-label, and I'm not. I just wanted to sign a deal when the time was right. I'm anti being shot out of a rocket when you're not ready and the songs and image aren't there.
If you can't relax during your interview, then nothing you do to prepare will matter. Being yourself is essential to the selection process, and interviewers will feel it if you're too nervous. Showing fear or anxiety appears weak compared to a relaxed smile and genuine confidence.
If you feel your school is failing you, the question is why. Is it a lack of parental involvement, large classes, school violence, poor learning environment? Are there any standards to determine where problems are? Are there tutoring or mentoring programs? If the school is still failing after 3 years then what are your options?
