What I didn't realize is how completely consumed I would be by my sons. I didn't know that the rest of my life would become so little a priority.

I'm a technician. I don't go for the get-into-the-role stuff. I read the lines and play the scenes.

The movies I made when I was 14 or 15, I have a hard time looking at those. Those were the awkward years. I don't know if anybody can look at something they did when they were 14 and not wince.

I'd like to work more as a director. It's distracting being an actor, because - there's a lot of reasons. You find out you're going to work about six months before you start shooting, and then there's prep and there's post afterward, and there's stuff to do, and then suddenly you've gone a year without directing. There's a part of me that has to not be tempted by that in order to commit more to the directing. Honestly, the big reason for me to act is to observe other directors and learn from them. That seems to be the biggest draw.

I've worked with Neil Jordan, who I really adore. We did The Brave One [2007] together.

Interestingly, when you do films, sometimes you have conscious reasons, things that you were looking for, or stuff that you were trying to do. And then, you see the film and you think, "Wow, it ended up being something totally different!"

I'd always need a creative outlet. But sometimes, I do fantasize what my life would be like if I weren't famous.