I've done movies I'm very proud of, but there's always a sense of: 'Come see this shiny new car!' The question I hate the most is: 'Why should people see it?'
The first movie I can remember seeing in the theater was 'Return of the Jedi.' I can remember seeing Darth Vader's helmet come off. The shock of that moment.
I always like teaser trailers because they don't give too much away, you know? They give just a flavor of what the thing is.
I like films that take their time a little bit more and don't show you all of their cards right away, characters that are conflicted and contradicting and seem one way at first and then suddenly turn out to be something else.
All of my high school issues are resolved!
What you wear can be such an indicator of so many things. You know, how you feel, how you want others to perceive you. So, that is an absolutely essential part of building a character.
When I moved to New York, I had to let my band know that I couldn't play anymore, and that was difficult to leave that behind.
Anything that's made by humans is about humans, whether it's about gods or aliens or anything; it's about some sort of expressive nature about us.
I think it's good to be a little more fearless in saying what you feel. In not being scared of the repercussions of that.
I like the idea of the comedy of resilience.
A movie set is like a petri dish for neuroses, you know? It's just, like, egos and weird personalities and, more than anything, fear.
I'm very happy to have the heritage that I do, but I'm not wanting to be 'the Latino actor.' I just want to be 'an actor.'
I'm so bored by business and money.
I don't know if they were all functioning, but I did play in a bunch of bands.
I've been fortunate to be working mostly right out of school. Every year, there was a little something, and it kept the confidence going. It's about confidence and the belief.
I think that when you decide to dedicate yourself to creative endeavors and surround yourself with people who are creative, you very quickly learn how hard it is to survive doing those kinds of things, not to mention make a living at them.
The songs I've written that are the strongest, I'm like: 'I don't know where that came from. It just kind of popped out.' You feel you can't take a whole lot of credit for it. I didn't purposefully will it into existence.
I grew up in a very devoutly Christian home.
I'm really sick of anthems. Every song has to be a very big singalong thing - it feels very Eighties. There are a lot of 'whoah whoa whoahs,' this stadium thing. You're even getting that from some of the 'folk' groups. I can't stand it.
I really just like characters who you don't know where they stand for a long while. It's like people. You hang out with them for 10 years, and then all of a sudden they do something, and you say, 'Who are you?' That's more interesting. In life and on-screen.
I wouldn't mind seeing The Smiths reform. That would be cool.
I have been playing acoustic music for a very long time, and it's something that I am very comfortable doing, so if I made a record, it would probably be a mixture of that and some other things that I'm interested in.
There's very few geniuses that come and revolutionize everything. For the rest of us that want to be artists and have something to say, it's a lot of work and a lot of luck.
When I'm creating a character, I don't see it so much as playing someone else as just playing a specific part of myself under certain circumstances.
My dad always played a lot of music, so I heard him playing all the time, and then I decided that I wanted to learn to play guitar, so I got an acoustic and started taking lessons. I wanted to be able to shred like Yngwie Malmsteen.
I'm open to the idea of doing more musicals if it's one that I really enjoy.
I come from a place where everything about me, even my body language, is saying: I mean you no harm. I smile, I laugh. Basic stuff for most people.
You watch 'Whale Rider,' and I defy you to not get teary-eyed at the end there.
In a play, you dictate pace, you dictate rhythm, you dictate when people look at you, when people should be looking at something else. In film, the editor does that.
I remember the first time my mind was blown by an actor was Tim Curry, because I loved 'Clue' when I was a kid, and then I was watching the movie 'Legend,' and the Devil suddenly smiles, and I was like, 'It's the same guy!' It was a total Keyser Soeze moment.
Advice? Look at your pay statements.
I've never been interested in celebrity.
The better I am at observing moments in life, the better I'll be at showing them in my acting.
It'd be crazy to say just because an artist is not successful that means he's not talented. I don't think anybody really believes that, but sometimes it feels that way.
I played guitar and bass. I didn't do much vocals, although I did have one band where I was the lead singer. But that was when I was in college.
I get attached to things: I wear the same jeans for a year.
I guess 'Scarface' was the Cuban Al Pacino.
You can't try to be authentic. You either are or you aren't.
'Mojave' is a very wild, throwback film with these two dudes going after each other.
The motivation is important for me to act it, but I don't necessarily want the audience to know my motivation.
I was always - maybe stupidly so - very confident.
If you can find a way that your principles are actually the strategically smartest thing to do, you've kind of figured it out.
I had an audition where Josh Brolin was pelting me with his personality. I didn't get the part.
I wanted to shred, so I learned classical guitar.
I've never been much of a guitarist. I mean, I've played forever, but I was always more of a rhythm kind of guy. I don't read music.
'Drive' is a genre piece, and a lot of times we don't get really sophisticated genre films.
If you start trying to communicate ideas, I think you don't allow the audience to see themselves.
There's nothing scarier than unlimited choices.
Our morality is based on so many factors: of where we were born, who we were born to, what values were instilled in us, what values we chose, the way that our lives have shaped us. That dictates so much of what we assume is our morality, and also the culture, all of these things.
