I encourage first time filmmakers to be ambitious and take chances and risks, because you never know where your career is going to go.

You know, you can try and plan [filming] as much as you want, but you get there on game day and you get thrown a curve ball, I guess, hey, the game plan goes out the window. You've got to adapt.

Creating the opportunities for other people and solid projects, things that I like, for sure, definitely. Acting I'll do forever, but I want to produce as well.

I definitely want to do films. To see a character out from beginning to end in a matter of a hundred somewhat pages and then move on to the next role, is fascinating.

Independent film making is very collaborative. You feel like it's you, the director and other actors and you really feel like you have the final say. When you do the bigger films, the studio has to give the final thumbs up and they're usually not big on risk taking because they're trying to make money.

My mother's in my life, but at the time you imagine your mom passing away, not being there ... as a kid you try to think of something that hurts you the most ... It was just a tool [in "Hardball"].

Never played football, but I'm an athlete. I'm a competitor.