When my senior prom was happening, I was in Malta filming 'Troy.

I remember driving the tractor on our farm, and Tim McGraw would be on the radio. I'd find myself walking out of class, singing his songs. And then Tim ended up playing my father in 'Friday Night Lights.' It was surreal.

Yeah, I know a lot of soldiers. I know soldiers who don't like to hear thank you for your service. And I know soldiers that do like to be told thank you for your service. The ones who don't like to be told are the ones who've been through serious sh*t. They don't care about feedback. They did their job. They did what they have to do. Sometimes the people that thank them are exactly the ones they don't want to be thanked by.

I fantasised about F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' - I loved it, and then I read everything J. D. Salinger had to offer. Then I was turned on to Kerouac, and his spontaneous prose, his stream of consciousness way of writing. I admired him so much, and I romanticised so much about the '40s and '50s.

In my experience, the best directors I've worked with hired people for a purpose. They hire them with trust. There's not many notes. There's confidence and support.

It was close to like a 67- or 70-day shoot for 'Tron' on stage, in the suit. You can't even sit down during the day because of all the cables that divide the foam rubber and all the electrical circuits. We had these stools that were tall with a bicycle seat on them and you're just looking at a blue screen all day.

I'd mortgage any house for art.