Early on it was much easier to play leads, but now independent movies are being co-opted by the studio system, and they want bigger names to guarantee more audience and more numbers.

I've done a lot of crafts in my day. I learned how to do pottery, yoga... and I just wanted to share and talk and write.

People are like, 'Was it fun? Did you eat lots of cake?'

With Dazed and Confused I got the high school experience I didn't get to have. So you do create families and homes. You're projecting and it's your job. The amount of time and headspace and thought it takes on your psyche is huge. It's exhausting, yeah. And it's exhausting but it's also great.

An actor's career relies on a lot of luck. Being in the right place at the right time.

You're making a fantasy. You're making something real out of a fantasy. And then it no longer exists. It's heartbreaking to leave behind. I was devastated after Waiting for Guffman. I had never gotten so close to people I've worked with.

As an actor in these movies you get to fill up something so much, to its capacity, and once you get there you're like a horse running onto the racetrack.