Along with reading as much as I could about Andy, several of the real folks came in besides Andy [Hertzfeld] - Joanna Hoffman and John Sculley and Steve Wozniak all came in and spoke with us - so we had the advent of being around the real people and feeling their spirit, in talking to them about what Steve was like, what their relationship was like, and how they felt about each other.

I had a great time working with Denis [Villeneuve] and the whole group. It was a very different kind of a part [in Story of Your Life] than I've played in a while. But I had great fun; and yes, it was really nice not to have to answer to anybody about that.

A miracle is something that seems impossible but happens anyway.

I've found in my own life, if you try to struggle against what the universe is telling you, you set yourself up for more of a battle.

I was raised in a reform synagogue. I think we all bring with us a sense of when hard things happen to us, we find ourselves asking questions of why are these things happening to me at this time in my life. I think in that sense, there's a certain resonance that I carry. It's more of a spiritual resonance as opposed to particularly of Judaism.

I play Edward G. Robinson [in Trumbo], who was a close friend and a co-worker of Dalton's [Trumbo]. They worked together on at least one or two screenplays. A lot of these stories take famous people and show you who they are behind the scenes, which is kind of fun. One of the things about getting to play Edward G. Robinson was learning who the man was away from his movie-star exterior.

The key research I usually apply that allows me to understand the roles that I take on, starts with the script in front of me, and what it offers. I try to absorb as much of it as I can, in the time that I have to study it, and I like to change things up, if I have a choice in the matter... and I usually don't. I dream on it, write about and find out who the individual is, and try to bring him to life with as much human and truth as I can.