There's a religious basis to their [Bush and Chaney] kind of conservatism. It's rooted in a kind of fundamentalism. I'm afraid of that. I don't like that idea. I think all extremism is suspect.

Most human beings who are accustomed to attempting to see the world from various points of view tend to be more liberal than conservative.

My films ought to be judged on whether they're entertaining or good as films, but not on the political view necessarily. I'm trying to be morally responsible and no more. I don't have an agenda I'm trying to push.

I didn't believe that I'd ever be lucky enough to be able to make a living as an actor.

I love having made a film and watching it when it affects audiences in a positive way. It was always fun for me to hide in the back of a theater and watch Tootsie with an audience and hear them laugh. And it's gratifying 20 years later to imagine that they still can find it amusing.

I think it's a terrible shame that politics has become show business.

The essence of acting is seeing the world from another point of view. That's what acting is.