I'm less needy about needing to express myself through acting. I have many different lives outside of this that are extremely fulfilling.

From a Buddhist point of view, emotions are not real. As an actor, I manufacture emotions. They're a sense of play. But real life is the same. We're just not aware of it.

When I started acting, it was really the way for me to be able to communicate.

If the work is going well and it's something that has value with some meaning to it, it gives back a lot.

People have a different idea of how movies are made than they really are. On a certain level, everyone throws ideas into the hopper. It's not like the actors are wind-up dolls that you push out onto the floor, play with, then put back in the box. You get people around you who you trust; the writer, the producer, the director and all the actors all contribute.

One of the joys of being an actor is that you're always learning new things. And I've been doing this since I was 19, so there's been a lot of new things I have learned for each part. I always assume that I can do it.

Western Buddhists in many ways are much serious Buddhists than Tibetans are.