I didn't want to be the lead guy. That's too much work. But I thought that it might be fun to be the lead guy's friend. I'd have days off, and still get a paycheck every week.
I would not want to be a part of any project that I feel would not work. An actor like me always wants to work to get appreciation of the audiences. And appreciation can only come if people will come to watch the film.
I'm happy that people have loved my film and my work. I have always let my work do the talking, and I guess I have proved to my critics that I'm not over.
I think it was the preparation and every thing Lombardi represented, you know, about hard work and that every game was important. So when you get to the real important games, you were ready to go.
I remember times of anxiety, ups and downs, and times of unexpected windfalls. But my parents loved what they did. And because their work was also their hobby, it taught me that work could be fulfilling.
A live action movie is work, and an animated movie is you showing up in your pajamas once every three months, or in my case, just a splash of baby powder. It's not any kind of heavy lifting.
If you don't think you want to go on a train and read the paper every day and work from nine to six at night, there was something about the uncertainty when I was younger which was very attractive.
One day, I looked up and saw I had an extensive resume and saw how I did that and did not realize it because you are constantly working and trying to build a body of work.
Everyone has opportunities and different doors that are opened to them in different ways. In the end, if you're talented you'll get work, if you're not, you won't, so it doesn't really matter who you know.
I remember when I first started, the first movie I wrote that didn't get made I was aghast. 'Wait a minute, that's not how this is supposed to work. You write a move and it gets made!'
I'm not a fan of reality shows, but I am a fan of people who use their brains and skills and hard work to outsmart people, not to steal someone's man or get drunk on TV.
I went to a psychotherapist for a year and a bit, and it was fantastic. I went in with a very clear question: I couldn't work out why I behaved in a certain way in certain situations, and I got that answered.
When I got to Hollywood, at first I couldn't get a lot of jobs. So I grew a beard and look like a really bad Arab, and I started to get a lot of work because that's what they want.
We go through, I think, six different drafts of each script. And then my shooting it is roughly, you know, fifteen percent of the total work that gets done on a show. Then it's all post-production animation after that.
I've never had a grand plan. I've only just tried to keep open to many different possibilities, have fun and work with people who are passionate about what they do.
I guess what I learned the most was to feel lucky with what I have been able to accomplish and what I have and to feel humble about the people I have been able to work with.
I am very driven. I work really hard, whether it's acting or my charity or even poker. When I focus on something I give it my all.
The chances of a child coming through as I did... the world is too hard. On the other hand, I would always encourage children of mine if they wanted to be in school plays and dance and sing. But I wouldn't put them to work.
Where I work, in the Arab region, people are busy taking up Western innovations and changing them into things which are neither conventionally Western, nor are they traditionally Islamic.
We've evolved from sitting back on our tripods and shooting wildlife films like they have been shot historically, which doesn't work for us.
With any other celebrity, people come up and say, 'Hey, I really like your work.' But with my fans, when they see me, they don't even say hello. They just go, 'AWWWWWGHGHHHGHGHRRR!'
