I think that having had [Steven Spielberg's] confidence in me probably made me a little more immune to feeling as bad about myself in the face of rejection. I also was just so young - I was unaware enough to not take it too seriously.

I feel like I would have ultimately ended up pursuing acting. It probably would have been much more difficult and taken a lot longer for me to get into it professionally.

I've had a couple opportunities where I've been on the other side of the audition process as a director.

I had the opportunity to learn more about what life is like for a soldier [in The Yellow Birds].

That's something that Francis [Ford Coppola] would always say. I remember when I was doing Tetro, he said, "Stay innocent. I'm 69 years old, and I'm still innocent."

I really want to be a part of those movies that say something good to a lot of people.

I'm glad to be an actor to be employed by people who are now 12, probably. I look forward to that.