I always enjoy coming to Israel. Israelis are warm, they're energetic people. Forthright. Very smart. I always like smart people. They're nice people, you know. Aggressive, and I respect that aggressiveness because you need it in their situation.

As an actor who's starting out, you can't say, "Hey, I'm too good for this." You gotta do it, because people see you, your name gets around, and it has a cumulative effect.

Passion should always trump common sense.

Things rarely turn out the way we want them to.

If De Niro wants to spend the twilight of his career as the McDonald's of master thespians, we can't stop him.

I always wanted to direct. Directing is a lot more of a commitment though, a lot more time. I like directors who do very few takes, they know what they want.

My mother worked for a woman, Maria Ley-Piscator, who with her husband founded the Dramatic Workshop, which was connected to the New School. My mother did proofreading and typing and stuff or her, and as part of her payment, I was able to take acting classes there on Saturdays when I was 10.