There is no reason why challenging themes and engaging stories have to be mutually exclusive - in fact, each can fuel the other.

To me this movie is about what is valuable. To one person it might be a stone; to someone else, a story in a magazine; to another, it is a child. The juxtaposition of one man obsessed with finding a valuable diamond with another man risking his life to find his son is the beating heart of this film.

I never thought about that ever throughout the entire course of my career about choosing a specific role because it would make me seem more man-like.

Samurai culture did exist really, for hundreds of years and the notion of people trying to create some sort of a moral code, the idea that there existed certain behaviors that could be celebrated and that could be operative in a life.

There is no reason why challenging themes and engaging stories have to be mutually exclusive - in fact, each can fuel the other.

However much I may like to talk about or be interested in a more philosophical or moral agenda, [film] is, ultimately, about narrative. And it's about telling stories that are engaging and dramatic.

It's always great to do a movie that you find is entertaining, but also can give some sort of political or social message.