Before I made it big I worked as a dishwasher, washing dishes in this place called Dishwasher House where people could just come in and do whatever they wanted to the dishes and we had to clean them with our hands till they bled. A lot of struggling actors worked there-Downey Jr., Joaquin Phoenix, Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans-and we actually all kind of wish we still did.

It's not good for people to have the safety net too low... People can take care of themselves better than we allow them to.

So many actors spend so much energy trying to remember the lines. It's so foolish. Guys are the worst.

It's hard on an actor when you have to do a scene 45 times and you know damn well that three of the angles a director is shooting will never make it into the movie.

I'm a firm believer that character is highly overrated. Character is a trick that we do with the audience's collusion.

It sure is boring to be around people who are in character all the time. I always find it's closer to mental illness than acting excellence.

I'm drawn to a lot of first-time directors. One of the great common denominators in these small independent films is that there's a person, or two people, who have an absolutely monomaniacal passion to get these films made. That's what makes them happen. Sometimes, it takes years and years to finally get it done, but by never backing down, by never giving up, they get these films to the screen by hook or by crook.