I've worked with very few actors who have been at all difficult.

If you're working on something that isn't very demanding, isn't very fulfilling, then you have all this energy to burn, and you can go crazy.

It's fun to kick ass and show that other dark side of yourself as well.

I was kind of surprised to learn how controlling I am. I never thought of myself in that way. I think the root of the control issues is usually fear, because you want to know what's going to be happening at any given moment.

My kids would probably say that I'm too strict. They probably would say that, and I try not to be, but I'm probably more on the conservative end of that. At the same time, I know full well that ultimately I don't really have control over them.

De Niro is a classic example of somebody who is iconic and who sort of effortlessly puts actors at ease the moment you meet him. I think it's also just something that he innately does with people.

Acting's an odd profession for a young person; it's so extreme. You work, and the conditions are tough and the process is so immersive, and then it stops, and then there's nothing. So you have to find ways of making you feel productive when you're not actually producing anything. For a young person, that's really challenging.