I wanted to be the best actor possible. I worked very hard at the craft of it.

I've never lost a friend over work. I come from a small-town environment and I remember my childhood impressions that, if you were a conniver or a fink or whatever, everybody knew about it and you were a louse for the rest of your life. So I never lost those values in some way.

There are many directors in the middle range who've made mostly successful pictures, and then there are a few great directors who've had some successes and some failures. I suppose my life would be smoother if I wasn't almost totally enamored of the latter category.

As a means of supporting experiential element in film, once I begin to work on a particular movie I consider myself to be the tool of the director.

I think human beings have a basic instinct to be free and explore their world in their own way. I've always been driven to look at life as something which we should try to plunge into rather than sit back. You have to be able to have fun and keep creating a sense of excitement to how you approach the world.

I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace.

Decent people shouldn't live here. They'd be happier some place else.