If there's one thing I've learned from traveling, it's that it is definitely more important how you are than where you are. You can say, 'Oh, I hate X city, I hate that country, or I prefer this city,' but it's a little bit up to you to find some kind of happiness.

For 'Hidalgo,' I just spent as much time around horses as I could, which made sense.

Each time I make a movie, it's like a paid scholarship to a different university course.

In principle, I think the idea of rewarding a good effort is interesting, but movies are generally different from each other as are performances and the conditions on how the performances are given and how they're edited and so forth.

I'm certainly curious about people. As a kid, I moved around a lot. I was raised in a lot of different places, and thanks to working in the movies, I've gotten to keep traveling. I've always been interested in other cultures and languages.

It's hard not to get depressed when you pay attention to the world and how strangely and corrupt the people in it sometimes behave.

It's very rare you get a great script just handed to you, or sent to you, by someone you don't know.