I wanted to become an actor and I knew that if I was really going to do it, I needed the training. I was not one of those people that was like, "I got it." I was like, "No, I don't have it yet. I need work. I need help fixing myself."

I wasn't even a theater kid in high school. I studied classical piano, and I ran track.

[In New York,] when you say you're an actor, there's a certain level of respect that goes with that.

The big challenge is finding something new without changing completely what you've already done - going deeper into what you've already done and discovering new things while carrying out the same intention.

When I'm in Los Angeles, sometimes I hesitate saying that I'm an actor because people are like, "Of course you are." And I'm like "No, not, 'Of course I am.'"

Shakespeare teaches you how to act. You come out of this process as a better actor. It's just the nature of the words he writes.

There are a lot of celebrities that I think can get a little bit distracted by the way that our society views celebrity. All of a sudden, the film becomes about, "Come see this celebrity!" I'm not interested in that. I want to see a story.