When we say 'cinematic', we tend to think John Ford and vistas and wide-open spaces. Or we think of kinetic camera movement or of a certain number of cinematic styles, like film noir.
I think a film noir demands a beginning and an end.
I think I've always wanted to direct, but I didn't go to film school. I was lucky enough to work in movies, and I think those became my film school in terms of acting and watching directors work and also writing and co-writing and producing.
I think a film set is a quite controlled environment and you feel like you can trust them and it is going to be a safe place to work, but I really don't think about it.
My dad, for the first 15 years of my career, on every visit he made to a play or a film set, would find the oldest person on set and say, 'Do you think my son has a future?'
I think being on a film set for such a long time made me a technical actor without realizing it.
Every film teaches you something; every experience on every film set with every co-star teaches you something. You learn something new. I think the challenge is to keep working harder and doing better.
I think I spent my entire childhood on film sets, surrounded by film-makers and actors and people with magnetic energies who make movies.
A lot of actors on film sets... very often they're not paying attention to the physical world around them. I think through studying art, I've always had that awareness and that's something that I've wanted to bring in to go beyond acting... As a form of expression, they are intrinsically linked.
I wish to be appreciated not only as a film star but also for the person I am. If I manage to bring a smile on people's faces, then I think I'll be successful.
A film star is a film star, and you can't take that away. Hence, I don't think about money when I do films, but I will do it for TV like the way I do it for endorsements.
Film was something I didn't really think about when I was young, because if you looked like me, you weren't a film star.
I think you have to really, really want to be a film star.
I think people connect better with TV. stars over film stars.
But short films are not inferior, just different. I think the short gives a freedom to film-makers. What's appealing is that you don't have as much responsibility for storytelling and plot. They can be more like a portrait, or a poem.
I use my film-making to work through my deep questions and my deep problems. I think I could watch each film and tell you exactly which part of my psyche I'm trying to work out.
I like to think of film-making not just as an act of personal self-aggrandisement but rather as an act of public service.
It's like getting into film - I didn't say early on, 'I'm going to become a filmmaker,' 'I'm going to show my work at MoMA.' When you start to think those things, you're in trouble.
I think I'm a better filmmaker than actor, so I already know that. That's OK. I can handle not being a famous actor.
Whereas money is a means to an end for a filmmaker, to the corporate mind money is the end. Right now, I think independent film is very confused, because there's excess pressure in the marketplace for entertainment to pay off.
