Every character, no matter who you play, at times is pretending to be somebody else. People have a public face and a private face.

[Hollywood] studios are handing out money to make independent films now, but they all want the same thing. They want the style and the deadpan delivery of RESERVOIR DOGS or FARGO and so they imitate those movies. They want PULP FICTION, but they get it all wrong! They get the detachment, but that's it. And then it's all about style, and in the end what do you learn about the characters? Nothing. You learn you wasted two hours.

As soon as the actor steps into the role, you probably can cut 50% of the lines because there's a person there now. And what a person does with their eyes, with their mouth, with their hands, the way they walk into a room, you can probably cut half the scene.

As a director, I also get to sit and watch actors and learn from them in a way that I don't get to do when I'm just acting.

If you find that thing you love, it doesn't necessarily matter whether you do it well or not-you just need to do it.

Like Joseph Mitchell, I would scour the streets of New York and find little pieces of what other people think of as junk - and collect it.

If you feel safe then you can go wherever you want to go as an actor.