Acting is like a Halloween mask that you put on.

Music is a whole oasis in my head. The creation process is so personal and fulfilling.

I’ve learned that if you can’t get it all together to accomplish this thing called peace, you do at least your part in your life, because that’s where you can truly make an immediate difference.

I would get songs sung to me, like 'Old Man River, 'or kids would call me Mississippi and things like that. At the time, I wished I had a name that blended in more with my surroundings. Now, though, I've really learned to love it. From fifteen, I really liked it. It felt appropriate. Before that, I don't think it quite fitted me. I had to grow into it.

I really like acting because you can create a character. You can make someone who has never existed before. That's neat.

I sometimes lie, especially about personal things, because what does it matter? I am a kind of minute commodity. My name is no longer my own. I try to lie as much as I can when I’m interviewed. It’s reverse psychology. I figure if you lie, they’ll print the truth.

I would never, never do anything unless I believed in it.