Acting is about animality. It's great to be allowed to be animal. But I feel more alive as a director. Every morning, I have to write.
I've been lucky enough to work with some great directors, and I don't want to throw that away by doing one big horrible big budget film.
Having been a child actor, I remember how directors would trick me to get good performances out of me. I don't think you need to do that.
Whether it's t-shirt and jeans or full monster suit, I'm still an actor underneath it all, and a good director is going to know that.
I always feel that if you put me in a room with a director and a writer and let me talk about the script, I can give a good account of myself.
I think when you have some success as a kid, your notion of being a good actor is pleasing the director, doing exactly what they tell you to do.
Egotism is not a good quality. It's not something to be admired or even tolerated. It wouldn't be tolerated in a field commander and it shouldn't be tolerated in a movie director.
There's no big splashy renaissance in Italian films. We have good young actors and directors. What we lack are screenwriters. It's hard to write about Italy.
My first time playing a main character was in 'Seventeen Years.' It was directed by famous Sixth Generation director Zhang Yuan, but it wasn't a large commercial film.
The first movie I did was 'Dan in Real Life,' which was directed by Peter Hedges, the same director who did 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green.'
I guess confidence is the only thing that I take from project to project, but I'm always open to learning everybody's style - the director, the actor I'm working with.
When I was a kid it was much more difficult. You're trying to understand what the director wants. It's a learning process. Now, you go in and it's more of a collaboration.
I love doing film soundtracks and working with directors on how they want the scene to be portrayed on audio as opposed to visual. I like the collaborative effort of working with people.
You go to New York or L.A., and every waiter wants to be a writer, director or actor. But there's a common thread: everybody wants to do it because they love it.
The beautiful thing about it is that no two directors or actors work the same way. You also learn not to be afraid of discussion and conflict.
When you're making a television show, it's about the story and arc of the show rather than any particular episode or director.
Other people’s lives seem better than yours because you’re comparing their director’s cuts with your behind the scenes.
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. -Frank Zappa, composer, musician, film director (1940-1993)
To be honest, the real reason I did 'Drive' was because of Nicolas Winding Refn, the director.
Indeed, the actor's lot is a much harder one than that of the director's, from one simple standpoint: The actor has to play the eight shows a week.
I learned so much about being an actor by being a director. More than I ever thought I would.
