Stripping away artifice - it's the constant standard I aim for in acting, to approximate life. People talk about being bigger than life - but there's nothing bigger than life.

I always thought of myself as a later bloomer, so I like some of my work more later than earlier.

I like the good feeling movies.

But for me, the challenge is how you turn a character into behavior. Once the director says 'action', you just try to live between those two worlds.

If you piss your pants, you can only stay warm for so long.

Hollywood is still the mecca for good or bad, but it isn't the beginning or end for filmmaking.

It suits him because way back many years ago when Nikita Mikhalkov, the great Russian director, came, I said, "I want you to meet somebody." So I get Billy Bob from Malvern, Arkansas and Nikita Mikhalkov from Moscow. It's just two big talents meet. We sat for two or three hours and talked. It was great. He's the real deal, this guy.