My mom said to me when I was a little kid, "You don't have to hate your job. Just because you see all these unhappy grown-ups doesn't mean you have to be one of them." She said, "Find something that you would do for free and find a way to get paid to do it." That's been my guiding principle.

Before World War II in Canada, you were nobody until you went to England. Then, after that it was you're nobody until you went to the States.

Long before I ever started acting, believe it or not, I always knew I wanted to be a director.

I just adore being on set. I adore storytelling. I can be on a set 70 hours a week and on those weekends, I'll still want to watch movies.

I guess I always have sort of general ideas, but the best stuff would be the stuff that comes to you in the moment, always.

You grow up skinny in Canada; in working-class Montreal, you're definitely the underdog.

I'd say that the No. 1 attribute you need as an actor is to be malleable. You need to be able to change and tailor what you're doing to what the situation dictates.