As an actor, I go where the good writing is. That's the bottom line.

There's something about a catharsis that is very important.

Ismail Merchant was just the most seductive, passionate, outrageous, driven, genius of a man.

It puts you in a kind of a strange situation where everybody is looking at every little thing you do.

I've been sacrificing my life for my work for 30 years, and now I want it the other way around. I want to find work that fits into my life and that would be based here.

I don't like public venues. I never know what to wear.

Bunny boiler is now part of our language, and I'm proud of that.

We were fortunate enough to have several good books detailing the camps and the women. Some were by the survivors. I also got to talk to some of the women who had been in the camp, survivors.

There are a lot of big spec houses now all across Connecticut, a lot of ostentatious showing of wealth.

Good roles are hard to find no matter what age.

I think the diva is kind of a cliche. My definition of a diva is somebody whose talent does not match what they're trying to play, so all this temperament comes out.

The best thing I have is the knife from Fatal Attraction. I hung it in my kitchen. It's my way of saying, Don't mess with me.

We have to be vulnerable as actors, but we have to protect ourselves.

I don't think the tabloids find me very interesting.

I knew the term Stepford Wife, and I knew what that meant. I never read the book, and I think before I started filming I watched the movie. I thought it was very dated.

I never got into this business thinking I'd be like a movie star.

I get bored talking about myself, but I can talk about the work.

Acting, to me, is about the incredible adventure of examining the landscape of human heart and soul. That's basically what we do.

I had a great time on The Shield. From working on it I have a totally different view of law enforcement.

With the hugely talented women I've worked with or observed, it's not a question about temperament or ego; it's a question about getting it right. If they've got a reputation for being difficult it's usually because they just don't suffer fools.

I am extremely shy. I am not happy in crowds of people.

Celebrity is death - celebrity - that's the worst thing that can happen to an actor.

It's not good to be in a situation where people don't want to direct you or don't want to question something.

You have to love the characters you play, even if no one else does.

I'm an actor, that's my contribution.

When I hear that somebody's difficult, I think, Oh, I can't wait to work with them.

It always amazes me to think that every house on every street is full of so many stories; so many triumphs and tragedies, and all we see are yards and driveways.

It's gotten out of control. It's taking bigger and bigger names to make smaller and smaller films. I worry that important films without a big name attached won't get made at all.

I think there are certain actors that have that kind of energy about them, that taking over a room energy.

It is very difficult for girls. They're told to look one way, but to act another way.

As an actor, I go where the good writing is. That's the bottom line.

I had a dresser who literally squeezed me in like Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind.

When they tested Fatal Attraction, the audiences were so upset by her behavior, they literally demanded her blood.

Diva has a negative connotation.

Be aware of your inner voice and follow it, even though most of the time it will tell you the most uncomfortable path to choose.

What's so fascinating about people is what they don't show. People are masters at it; usually actors show too much.

My favorite actor is Wallace Beery.

I've been a very lucky actor.

I don't think I could be happy as an actor if there was a tyrant on the set.

When I was starting to get noticed as an actor in the 1970s for something other than the third cowboy on the right who ended up dying in every movie or episode, Burt Reynolds was the biggest star in the world.

Most parts that can be played by one actor can equally well be played by another, but not this.

I think, frankly, that I'm a better director than I was an actor.

I knew an actor's career goes up and down and back up again. Your standing in this business can't be your whole identity; otherwise, you're doomed.

I don't think any actor feels comfortable watching themselves in movies. You must be very narcissistic. The problem with your own opinion of yourself is that contrary to the normal spectators, when you watch a film you are in, you only watch yourself.

I don't think there has been any increase in sophistication in the audience. When people are aware of a concept that's easy to understand, and there's an actor who will attract them to the theater and it's a movie that's funny three-quarters of the time, it will be successful.

I never dreamed about being an actor, because that was out of reach. Coming from a small town that was big in farming, and also big in clothing factories, you don't dream about being a professional football player or an actor.

My goal was always to be recognized as a good actor but no one was interested in that, simply because society just wants to warm towards your appearance. This is the great blemish of society.

If you really do want to be an actor who can satisfy himself and his audience, you need to be vulnerable.

To be honest with you, when I got into this I never thought about reviews. I never thought about what people would say about me. I was just a young guy who was excited to become a comedian and an actor and I just wanted to get to do what I got to do.