I always considered myself as a character actor. I always try to be versatile to show different sides of human experience.

The idea is that one's temperament improves with age; that you learn to deal better with people and become more benevolent and loving. That's not necessarily true. I try to stay loose but sometimes the best thing to do is get yourself away and take a good nap.

My father's people... are from Fairfax in northern Virginia, just across the Mason-Dixon line. So it was an honour to play Lee, he was a great general.

There's a lot of ignorance in our business... Everybody's an authority. To have your own vision is rewarding.

You get below the Mason-Dixon line and you have some of the best music, culture, the two races, the literature, and it's so rich.

Well, it's like my movie, 'The Apostle.' Some people in the North don't get that movie. They think that, in the South, if you don't shout, you can't play one of those guys.

We all have a cradle-to-the-grave journey to make and, in between, what do you do? There's got to be something hereafter.