Any questions I had about whether a redneck from Oklahoma could become a Brown Classical Philosophy professor ended when I met Tim [Blake Nelson].

The elegance of staying with a moment, without needing to stop and change all the lighting, made [the alternative] seem lazy and indulgent.

Sometimes we don't see certain things until we're ready to see them in a certain way.

People think because I went to Yale that that implies privilege, and it is a privilege in the sense that it's an incredible opportunity.

You know, independent films have been institutionalized, practically. Every studio has got a boutique arthouse label.

I think there is a serious corruption in the idea sold through advertising that you can attain spiritual peace through lifestyle and the notion of building your happiness from the outside-in by acquiring things . . . which if you think about it, is the essence of advertising

I don't think you should sit around and wait for people to give you an opportunity to express yourself or do your work, or whatever. Actors have to be producers and writers have to be producers.