A good comic explores the imagination, but it's always got to have those notes of truth running through it.

My first ten years in Hollywood were really tough. I'd be coaching friends who came to me for acting advice, and then they'd make it before I did. I'd still be helping them while they were on movie sets and I had four lines on a TV show.

It's so interesting to watch Ben Stiller work because he just knows what's funny.

In the beginning, I was always playing some kind of gangbanger and the token Mexican dude who didn't have a lot of lines but was in the entire movie. At the same time, everyone gets typecast, and I decided that if I was going to play a stereotypical role, I was going to play it like a three-dimensional character.

The joy of 'Crash' was that it was all about the work. It was my first real part. Before that, it was a line here and there, maybe a scene. 'Crash' was five scenes, a beautiful arc, a little vignette of my own. It really meant something.

I grew up reading the newspapers, mostly the sports section. I was a wrestler and would check to see if I was ranked.

I think that when you’re doing a comedy and it makes you laugh, there’s a certain… like you can reject it, and it’s okay. It’s not promoting it or making it seem cool. I think that’s when you get into hot water.