The exciting part of acting, I don't know how else to explain it, are those moments when you surprise yourself.

When you have to cope with a lot of problems, you're either going to sink or you're going to swim.

When you become successful in any type of life, there are people who are not contributing to the motion.

When I work, I work very hard. So I look to work with people who have that level of dedication. And I depend on that from everyone. From the director to my crews that I work with.

When I first started out all the attention could be a bit unnerving, especially when people stared. Now I find the best thing is to just relax. Being recognized is just something you have to get used to.

I've never made a film that I didn't believe in, you know? However the picture turns out, I've always given everything to it. That's kind of how I approach life. I can't help it. There's no part-way with me on anything in any area of my life.

The thing about film-making is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own cheques, be responsible.

I've gotten very good at scheduling my life, scheduling the scene and preparing myself for knowing, saving the energy, consuming the energy, knowing when to go for it and having the available reserves to be able to do that. You have to think about that, because it's endurance.

Talk is over-rated as a means of settling disputes.

Saddam has committed many crimes against humanity and against his own people.

It's well known I'm a Scientologist, and that has helped me to find that inner peace in my life and it's something that has given me great stability and tools that I use.

I've never done work for money ever. If your choices are based on grosses and the film doesn't do well, what does that mean? It leaves you with nothing.

I've learned to relax more. Everybody feels pressure in what they do, maybe mine is just a little different because there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish what I want to.

What I find sometimes that is tricky is if actors are using too much of their own life in a picture, in a scene, they get locked into a particular way to play the scene, and it lacks an immediacy.