You liked the freshness of it, c'mon try it" and I said "oh God, I read it three of four times" and finally I said "all right, I want you guys to organize a reading and I want you to be there to see how terrible this is not going to work at all", so we had a table like this, and read the script, and it was just great.

What are the aspects of yourself that line up with the character? You magnify those, and the ones that don't match up you kind of kick to the curb.

I love John Irving's stuff. It's that marriage of comedy and tragedy. It's really terrific.

Hope's interesting, isn't it? I can't turn hope off, it's hopeless.

If you open your heart, then the object of your love becomes so precious because you are so open. And that philosophy, that caring, spreads.

It gives me more breadth as an actor and as an artist to not be pigeonholed.

I've had really great experiences working with first-time directors. They come at filmmaking with fresh ideas. I've been very lucky that way.