A conductor can't be too arrogant with an orchestra and try to impose himself too much.

I'll do anything to keep everyone laughing. Things get too intense on film sets. I remember on The Elephant Man, I used to imitate a cat without moving my lips. David Lynch would say, "Cut! Sorry, we've got a noise somewhere on set." Everyone would be looking around for this cat.

Every time I try to retire, or even think of retiring from acting, my agent comes up with a script.

Acting is constricted because you have the lines. But I improvise with it and what I learn on the set. I improvise rhythms and just changes.

I’m not being cynical, but when you’re doing a movie you have a number of choices as an actor. Then you see it all cut together and all of those precious little pieces you put in are maybe on the cutting room floor. So, you don’t have that much control. You have very little control, in fact.

I've got no need to prove to myself that I can do Shakespeare. I've done it.

A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.