I was a writer. I just wasn't a very good one. I was lucky enough to have a playwriting teacher who told me that I'd be a better actor than I would a playwright.

Style, no matter how outrageous it is, is still an expression of someone's personality. And my personality is somewhere stuck in the classics.

As soon as you know what you're doing, you're doing it wrong.

I didn't think that a career in theater was very realistic so I thought the only thing I could make money doing and still be somewhat artistic was, god help me, advertising.

If you fall in love with somebody you're working with, fine, but wait till your project is over.

I manage to hide in my movies.

My publicist told me not to talk about politics but, yes, I think we have a president who stole the election.

Hamlet is a remarkably easy role. Physically it's hard because it tends to be about three hours long and you're talking the whole time. But it's a simple role and it adapts itself very well, because the thing about Hamlet is, we all are Hamlet.

I live with an 18-month-old Jack Russell named Chicken. He moved in about 15 months ago, and it was very hard at first because I work a lot and he doesn't.

Everyone assumes that novelists are smarter and more interesting. They're generally smarter and more interesting, but they're often very short. So it kind of cancels all the smart and interesting stuff out.

There's the private persona and the public persona and the two shall never meet.

You should never ask actors about politics.

It's good to overexpose yourself with work. But don't expose yourself too much with the press.

I really don't think there is anybody in the business with better eyes than Elijah Wood.

If I'm doing my job as an actor, the audience knows everything I know about the character.

I was a writer. I just wasn't a very good one. I was lucky enough to have a playwriting teacher who told me that I'd be a better actor than I would a playwright.

You can think about your career or you can think about your job. I like to think about my job.

Some actors need to be rattled and some need to be focused.

A lot of times in Hollywood you're as good as your last job.

Actors, you know, they're often awkward people in real life.

And I think for me there's a lot of neurosis involved with where you should be or thinking about where you are all the time instead of being where you are.

And you know, I hate to admit this, but I don't always think in terms of Shakespeare. When I eat, I do. When I'm at a restaurant, I'll think, 'Hmm, what would Macbeth have ordered?'

As soon as you know what you're doing, you're doing it wrong. That's what I find with acting. As soon as it becomes padded, it becomes pat.

Don't hit people; don't let it get you too angry; remember that everything you do can and will be used against you. And take a breath and have some perspective.

During 'Manchurian Candidate' - that role originated with Laurence Harvey, and I studied everything he did. I would never be able to reproduce that performance, but I got a lot of ideas from watching it.

Entitlement is lethal.

Every girl I've gone out with has said something to me first.

Everyone says villains are thankless parts, but those are really the best roles.

Film is such a bizarre vehicle for acting. It's such a bizarre experience. I don't think you ever really get familiar with it. If you do get familiar with it, you're probably not that good anymore.

Home is New York.

I actually loved Winnipeg. Everyone told me I was going to hate it, but it was great.

I am so used to being able to express myself from being an actor. So when people don't understand me, I'm just completely lost.

I am very good with dialects, but the two that I can't do for some reason are the South African and Australian.

I find that the most interestingly written parts happen to be the bad guys.

I get panic attacks in big crowds.

I get very nervous around famous people and I get nervous around beautiful women.

I grew up in the Lower East Side of New York.

I had great teachers, great ensembles, and great companies to work with who supported my career.

I love having that creative discussion where, at the end of the day, you both feel better for having done it. Maybe it's a typically Jewish thing, where you sort of go at each other.

I really never thought I was that good at film. And honestly still don't. My strength is language. My background is monologues and a certain kind of Brechtian spin on theater.

I struggle with the idea of comparing people's work and art. The notion of giving awards or putting a competitive spin on something that is a relative art form is sort of odd to me.

I think New York will always be this incredible international crossroads, and I don't think that will ever change.

I think conflicted characters are always more interesting.

I think it's really, really important to mix it up as an actor, to try to get as much kind of varied experience as you can, not only for your own personal growth as an actor but for the audience to keep them guessing about what you're going to do.

I think that everything I've ever done at some point is part of someone else's legacy.

I was always curious about motivation and intention, and really, that's a lot of what acting is.

I was always curious about motivation and intention, and really, that's a lot of what acting is. I was a little bit different.

I was always drawn to tough girls. I liked that domineering thing.

I went to school in Massachusetts at Hampshire College.