Sometimes one of my ways of choosing movies that I want to do is if it's the kind of movie I would have gone to see when I was a kid, and this is a movie I actually did go see, as a kid. And I think it will be exciting for audiences to see now.

I met [ Samuel L. Jackson ] for the first time on The Today Show. He came out of an elevator. I was promoting A Mighty Wind and he was promoting something else. He said, "I hear we're going to be working together." I said, "On what?" He said, 'The Man.' I hadn't heard his name mentioned before. I made a few calls and found out he had the script and was interested. That was it.

Painters get up and paint. Writers get up and write. I like to get up and act. It's not a big deal. It makes me happy.

I guess the worst day I have had was when I had to stand up in rehab in front of my wife and daughter and say 'Hi, my name is Sam and I am an addict.'

When I'd read the script [The Man], [ Eugene Levy] that's who I'd seen in my mind. When I ran into him, I said to him, 'I read the script. You'd be great.' He had no idea what I was talking about. Then, we saw each other again in London. He'd read it and was enthused about it.

If you do not have courage, you may not have the opportunity to use any of your other virtues.

I walk the streets, take the train, it's real simple. Some actors create their own mythology: 'Oh, I'm so famous I can't go places, because I created this mythology that I'm so famous I can't go places.