You think of stars as ambitious or aggressive or self-oriented.

I come from a very expressive family, so it's really not surprising that we became actors. There was a lot of real-life drama in our house. Some of it was drama, some of it was comedy and some of it was comic-tragedy.

In a lot of movies, honestly, the directors don't talk to you that much. Maybe they say, "Faster, slower," whatever. Sometimes they give you little adjustments, because sometimes you want to start out neutral, but a lot of times you wind up directing yourself anyway, just doing what you think is the right thing to do.

I think I've had more of a variety in what I've done than most actors

If I was a criminal, stationery stores and bakeries would be the two kinds of places I would concentrate on.

I've always liked clothes. I usually work very closely with the costume designer when I work on films, picking the fabrics and the clothes. And colors convey feelings. I like swatches and things like that. It makes me feel at home.

The nice thing about Toronto is there's not a competition.