I'm becoming a frustrated director, I think, in an actor's body.

Some people would say I've made it now.

As we mature and grow older we collect a lot of baggage, and a lot of that stuff you collect on life's journey gets in the way of acting. My kids can imagine a character and transform in the blink of an eye. It's so simple for kids, so complex for adults.

I think actors do make really, really wonderful directors.

Id love to work with the people who really got the film industry going again through the 70s: Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford, Gillian Armstrong, Fred Schepisi.

I think you have to find the humanity in the character and then the deterioration is a part of the process - the journey of the character. It's like playing King Lear. You can start off as a nice old man who finishes up crazy.

Listening and hearing are two different things, and acting is comprehending what the person is saying, thinking how it makes you feel and responding. That's the key to really honest, truthful, compelling performance.