Like everyone else, I try to do quality work with great directors. But much of it has to do with luck.

What people actually refer to as research is really just Googling. I already have a complicated relationship with research. It used to be going to the library and looking up archival photos, etc.

Whatever you hold onto that you want to do, and that other people tell you you are foolish to want to do, don't give up.

Page one of the script, I launch into, "How would I feel if I were in this position?" That's an actor's job.

After my father had seen me in five or six things, he said, Son, your mother and I really enjoyed your recent film, and I must say that you're a lot like John Wayne. And I said, How so? And he said, Well, you're exactly the same in all your roles. Now, as a modern American actor, that's not what you want to hear. But for a guy who watched John Wayne movies and grew up in Iowa, it's a sterling compliment.

I wouldn't do anything else [besides acting], for sure. If I did, it would be music or some other pursuit in this same area. I have been acting and playing music since childhood. It's what I enjoyed most.

I don't need to prove that I'm some great international filmmaker. It's not really on my list of goals.