But I think once the word gets out that the movie is funny - funny is transcendent - it will traverse all demographic barriers if people embrace it as a funny movie.

As an actor I kind of do. I started out doing voice overs in the mid 80s when I was in grad school.

I'm not so proud to think that anything is unworthy, and I don't think I was that way 10 years ago.

Children from like 8 and even up to the college age - Spider-Man appeals to a fairly broad demographic but, like I said, a mean age probably of 12 is a good mark - they process information so quickly and it's not because of attention deficit or short attention span.

But at the same time, if the right thing came along, I would do it in a second.

But I think once the word gets out that the movie is funny - funny is transcendent - it will traverse all demographic barriers if people embrace it as a funny movie.

When I moved to L.A. in 1989, the very first thing I did was this horrific pilot called To Protect And Surf.

But I'm a citizen of Texas and try to spend most of my time there.

I enjoy doing press for something that I like, and I think the movie is very fun and charming and clever.

Cary and I are working together on another movie, Charlotte's Web.

Last summer when we were preparing for the movie, I actually kind of wanted to stay fairly uninformed about it. As we went through the process that we do in the movie, I wanted to be a little wide-eyed.

I invested, and I protected myself, so I enjoy that freedom.

I believe in singularity in relationships because you've got to have trust on both sides.

Their lives have been largely defined by failure and you would think the prospect of marriage, which is supposed to be bountiful and hopeful, it's just really another kind of tangential thing in his life.

And there have certainly been movies I wanted to be in and milestones I wanted to surpass that did not happen.

I would say 95% of the time, because you just can't remember your lines if you're drinking alcohol. I would say about 95% of the time it was grape juice or this fake wine, which was horrible.

I made a comfortable living for several years. I invested, and I protected myself, so I enjoy that freedom.

But all actors go through the process, it's hit and miss, you have achievement and failure.

He was using me. When he cast me in Sideways I was nothing but a vessel.

But to this day I am convinced that the real reason we met was because Alexander is from Nebraska, and he was completely fascinated that I was about to go off and make a movie with Brando - perhaps the most famous Nebraskan of all.

I kind of have a rededication in my life now to acting because I'm very fond of being in this movie.

But I certainly know a lot of people that existed at that level and are always kind of pining for more, always thinking that the next big break, the next opportunity, the big role are just around the corner of the next audition.

I love knowing that I'm not better than any other person on the planet.

I certainly was an actor and then I drifted more towards writing and directing.

Between Clive Owen winning at the Golden Globes and the British Academy announcing its nominations, of which Sideways received only one, I'm feeling pretty humbled these days.

To some extent I could identify with that because I kind of just made my money and got out.

I love going to the feed store and drinking coffee and talking about how much rain we need.

It's one of those scenarios where no, I never imagined that I'd be directed in a love scene - not even a love scene because it's kind of a hard-core sex scene because it's kind of just purely played for this carnal venting.

I like to keep my private stuff pretty vague.

I did a series called Ned and Stacey for two years for Fox back in the 90s. I was writer on it as well as a producer, and it was very important to me that there were no contemporary references.

The title of the movie is open to interpretation.

But all actors go through the process, it's hit and miss, you have achievement and failure.

Sight is about what lies right in front of us. Vision is what lies ahead.

It's funny, 'cause it seems like just yesterday that I was the youngest player just starting out. But now there are young players all over the league, and they'll ask me questions about playing overseas or finding an agent.

When Frank the Pug is singing I Will Survive, the only reason it's funny is that Will is in that shot trying not to get angry. A shot of a dog singing I Will Survive on its own will not get a laugh.

I sometimes lie awake at night trying to think of something funny that Richard Nixon said.

Robert Altman's Nashville is my all-time favorite film because it covers all the bases - it's original, moving, and has something to say, but also funny and incredibly entertaining.

You amaze me. You're 229 years old and that's what you think is funny.

You have to understand the tone of the movie, because if it's supposed to be funny, it can be funny violent like the Home Alone stuff, but you have to really understand the tone of what you're doing and make the action work for that and for the character.

It is funny that men who are supposed to be scientific cannot get themselves to realise the basic principle of physics, that action and reaction are equal and opposite, that when you persecute people you always rouse them to be strong and stronger.

Half of the great comedians I've had in my shows and that I paid a lot of money to and who made my customers shriek were not only not funny to me, but I couldn't understand why they were funny to anybody.

There's a constant flow of child actors. It's kind of funny to watch the new crew come through. I think, You poor little things. You're going to have to struggle for a long time.

For sheer sexiness, a man must be beautiful. Funny. yes. Clever, no.

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.

Books are funny little portable pieces of thought.

I had an idea of what I thought was funny. It's kind of based on how I am.

So while it is true that I find really dark stuff funny sometimes, it's also true that as a writer of books I want to have the whole range of human emotions.

When we criticize in Iran the actions of the government, the fundamentalists say that we and the Bush Administration are in the same camp. The funny thing is that human rights activists and Mr. Bush can never be situated in the same group.

So to me, Texas Hold 'em puts me to sleep. At least when you play stud, you can be funny as you deal. Somebody some day is going to come up with a Stud show that's going to work.