I started to make my own films, however small and however independent they were, from the beginning. And so, even though I was nobody, I was always the master of my own work.
The way I like to work is to attach personal experiences to what I'm doing, so it helps tremendously if I can write my own play under what the writer has written.
I'm an instinctual actor. I don't really talk about it. Usually if I get a script and I'm having trouble with it, I go to sleep and I dream about it because I'm super internal with the way I work.
The joy of 'Crash' was that it was all about the work. It was my first real part. Before that, it was a line here and there, maybe a scene. 'Crash' was five scenes, a beautiful arc, a little vignette of my own. It really meant something.
It's weird how your perspective changes. At the start of your career, you think, 'I just want to do cutting-edge work that makes people think.' Now, I would do a blockbuster in a heartbeat.
I was shy and really into my school work and my drama. Then I joined 'EastEnders' at 16, and it was work, work, work. You become very isolated. I rarely went out and so didn't get to meet anyone.
You've got a lot of very, very smart people standing by waiting for somebody else to do the work. Not a recipe for long-term solvency in my opinion.
I think the theater work and the on-camera work feed off each other. My theater work has become more simple, and my on-camera work has become more energized or more spontaneous.
I roll out of bed, walk into the garage, work out, and go about my day. I'll bring my daughter out there in her ExerSaucer. I don't know if I'll ever go back to a gym.
When I step back and look at all of these really successful people that I've worked with, one thing I do take away from it is how hard they work and how focused they are.
I'm one of those people that feels that Americans that shouldn't do Shakespeare... The rhythms of the English language and the mannerisms of the English speech seems to work effortlessly with William Shakespeare, but when Americans do it, something s...
I don't want to tie myself into one area or the other. I think its important not to rely heavily on either TV or stand-up, but to let them work off of each other.
I was a big fan of Indiana Jones; then I realized he was kind of a fake hero. The real heroes are the people who work hard and do their stuff right, like firefighters and policemen.
When you shoot a musical, you're shooting to lipsynch tracks, so we had to figure out our choreography and work out what we wanted to do with each number before we did it.
I took a little break - I was coming back to work and the last thing I was going to do was take a step backwards, so I knew that if I was going to take a feature it was going to have to be taking a step forward.
I can't wait to work with Peter Capaldi as the next 'Doctor.' I know him from old; he's such a lovely man and will be brilliant in the role. As long as he tones down the Malcolm Tucker swearing.
A lot of people think I'm difficult to work with. It's not like I really want to do that much stuff, so it doesn't really matter. I guess I'm somewhat difficult when it comes to comedy.
For years I drove a big Ford F250 pickup. That was my ride because two-thirds of my work was wood work, and I'm always driving up to Northern California, where I harvest salvaged trees.
Something like 'The Matrix' would be ideal, something where it's super agents and wire work and special effects - not necessarily running from bombs and shooting people. Something more sleek, like an assassin.
But when you work with the director and the real person who is playing opposite you, it changes everything. You are almost in a working session. I was very comfortable, and that's maybe what helped me to get the part.
We have filmmakers who make films with some kind of responsibility and take cinema seriously like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Prakash Jha. But now these people also take stars... Without stars they cannot work.
