A lot of people know that something very drastic has happened to the very idea of America.

There's also some element of coming of age during the Reagan administration, which everybody has painted as some glorious time in America, but I remember as being a very, very dark time. There was apocalypse in the air; the punk rock movement made sense.

Do I listen to pop music because I'm miserable or am I miserable because listen to pop music?

No, actors go out with actresses as a form of self-flagellation.

New York's like a boxing match. In Hollywood, it's like a Fellini movie or something.

I feel close to Lloyd in 'Say Anything'. He was like a super-interesting version of me. Only I'm not as good as him. Whatever part of me is romantic and optimistic, I reached into that to play Lloyd.

I wanted to just be a filmmaker, and I thought I wanted to do all the aspects, and it seemed like as a producer was the best way to do it, because I could have... You never have control on a movie, but you have as much control as you can.