In my career, whether it's a big or a small movie, when I've worked on something for a long time, like [Ivan] Drago in Rocky IV, they start to take on a life of their own.

Nicolas Cage is a great actor and he's done some good action movies too.

When I was a teenager, my dad used to put a lot of pressure on me to be successful, and I'd really beat myself up about things like losing martial arts competitions.

Having bodyguards is just part of being famous, I think.

Movies are a powerful medium. People think you are your character. I've had plenty of people who think I'm Drago. They don't know about the chemical engineering part of my personality. They don't know about the geek part of my personality.

It takes nine months for a baby to develop, it takes nine months to develop a character.

When you're directing you're kind of interested in the movie and the story and the characters. I just sort of prefer the really tough fighting and some of the other street fighting type moves. You know, where it's not just show. It's not dressing it up for the cameras too much. It's pretty down and dirty, the way it should be. That's something I like to do. I do that.