I have been blessed with roles that allow me to express something very personal at a specific time in my life. I seek them out; acting is my therapy.
I've become so earthy. And I never was earthy. I'm doing all kinds of different roles which are not at all like the intellectual and the legal mind of Ben Stone.
Learning operatic roles is ongoing, and I find that I can learn on the train or subway, during a manicure, getting my hair done, and even while driving if I only look at the score at red lights.
I had never picked up a basketball before. I went through a grueling audition process. It was almost as if I was learning to walk. It would be like teaching somebody to dance ballet for a role.
I love Cate Blanchett. She's extremely classy and has this knack for taking on roles and being very, very strong, but also embedding vulnerability. She has this relatable quality. I like the path she chose.
It's hard to get those roles that allow you to show everything and feel like you're really being used and exhausted and spent, which I think is what actors really love: We want to be tired.
I love the simplicity of Kevin Spacey's work. He really does a subtle interpretation of every character, and that's kind of my style of acting when it comes to dramatic roles.
It's just like being a father; you got to show them love and you got to show them the path. I don't like this role-model stuff, though.
I love the physical roles. I have the utmost respect for stunt people and stunt doubles, but I like to do as much as I possibly can with what's become some pretty significant training.
I love the role of being the experienced driver and that is definitely the case next year - I think I am the most experienced guy in F1 next year.
I love Tom Wilkinson and Tommy Lee Jones as well as Jessica Chastain. But the person I look up to most, not because I identify with her roles but because of who she is as a person, is Sissy Spacek.
The role of the pastor is to embody the gospel. And of course to get it embodied, which you can only do with individuals, not in the abstract.
It wasn't my intention in going after this part but I suppose now I do. The adult roles are a lot meatier - you're not always just the daughter or the girlfriend or whatever.
Hermione is so close to who I am as a person that I've never really had to research a role. I'm literally rediscovering what it means to be an actress.
I came from the theater playing leading roles, and when I started doing film and television, I felt as if I had to start from the bottom.
However, I'm at a very comfortable place in my career and celebrity, in that I don't have to audition as extensively as I used to for roles but yet I'm not immediately recognizable.
When I'm a director, I look at myself the actor as a completely different person. It's somebody else up there, an actor playing a role. I keep myself out of it.
I still have a reputation as an eccentric. But the fact is that audiences probably mix up my roles with me as a person.
Our role is to develop techniques that allow us to provide emergency life-saving procedures to injured patients in an extreme, remote environment without the presence of a physician.
Each of my career decisions has been very much about doing what I wanted to achieve in the role and then finding another challenge.
When you see a singer on stage who is 100% committed to the personality, character and temperament of the role being sung, it's truly awesome and very powerful.
