What people actually refer to as research nowadays is really just Googling.

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

Every time I've made a plan in my Hollywood acting career, something else has happened, so I've gotten out of the habit of trying to predict the future.

I was a film student. I became an actor but I thought I'd be pursuing filmmaking originally.

What's fascinating about acting is that you put yourself in somebody else's mind or in their shoes.

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.

Even through my college years, I was trying out plays and shows, but I never really thought it made much sense to try to be an actor. I thought it was foolish, really.