I wouldn't go up on a stage now if you paid a thousand dollars for one minute of acting. It's a nasty experience. You're up there all by yourself. You're so damn exposed.

I truly believe that all power corrupts. Such is probably the thinking behind every political film ever made in Hollywood.

I was the true future. I understood Communism better than they did.

The real challenge is not simply to survive. Hell, anyone can do that. It’s to survive as yourself, undiminished.

I was both very successful and very left; the living demonstration of how you could be on the left and still be in the gossip columns and be envied for the money you made.

The first thing you should do with an actor is not sign a contract with him. Take him to dinner. And take him for a walk afterwards.

I will say nothing to an actor that cannot be translated into action.