I always go back to how people behave. If you watch how people actually behave in a situation, it's very simple and honest and contained. You don't need to use as much expression, as much feeling. Some characters will boil over, and that's another thing, but a lot of times I think you can just do very, very little.

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

I will not hesitate. Not for a second.

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.

As I get older, I think that things have been pre-determined for me, whether I liked it or wanted it, wished for it, whatever, way before in some way. And with others, you do have a choice that you can change. And that choice that you make is still part of this grand scheme.

The bottom line is if the movie does well, everybody is happy and they forget about what they went through. And if it doesn't, it's 'I told you.' There's one director who I won't mention, who said, 'it's all blood under the bridge.'

Movies are hard work. The public doesn't see that. The critics don't see it. But they're a lot of work. A lot of work.