I think I am sometimes a poster child for arrested development in terms of I'm fascinated with toys and games. And I'm spontaneous. But no food fights. I'm gluten free. No, not really.
Related posts tagged 'Acting'
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Related posts tagged 'Acting'
That was so surreal because it was a bit like a bad drug flashback. And the joy about doing that movie was creating a character that lived vicariously through other people's lives. And now we have networks that do that.
It's a challenge. From the first time I played the role I was amazed at the amount of talking the character does, and in order to know those speeches I have learned about reading them over and over and deconstructing them a little, something most comic sketches do not require. But it's very rewarding. A character like Cal Mackenzie Goldberg who I play in "Let's Do This!" (please do check it out on Adult Swim.com) is a more heightened character who I can improvise in. Saul takes some contemplation.
I've always been a fan of sci-fi. And so when the opportunity to work with the Wachowskis on a sci-fi film that is a fully original concept, that was really intriguing to both Channing and myself. And it's one of the first times you get to see the female be a heroine, versus a damsel in distress. She kicks ass, which is always a rarity in the industry. In sci-fi films, it's uncommon for the woman to be the badass. But the Lara Croft movies, Aliens... the fact you can count it is a problem versus all the action films where the heroes are always men.
Doing these other things [in art school] was a release, and I think it made me a better actor. Because when I was only acting, I was trying to do all of these things as an actor. I was on my own mission. I was acting for myself — to do a great performance for me, not for the movie. But that’s not my job as an actor. My job as an actor is to help the director achieve his or her vision. As soon as I got to direct my own films or escape the film world and into these other realms, when I came back to the film world, I could be pure about it. I don’t think my performance in Spring Breakers could’ve happened if I didn’t do all this other stuff.
I couldn’t have lent myself to that if I didn’t have...
It was incredible. I have a movie coming out called The King of Staten Island. Steve plays my superior in a fire house. He was such a nice guy. We were trying to be respectful but eventually asked him a ton of questions about Reservoir Dogs. He's just one of those guys that can raise half an eyebrow and steal the whole scene. I've seen everything he's ever done. He's had one of the greatest careers in Hollywood. Amount of work and level of quality.
And how was it making out with Natalie? I mean... when you have a kissing scene in a film it's not something you think about as a kissing thing. You have all these crew around. But she's a lovely kisser, very polite.
But here's a little-known fact: there's one person in the world that both Ashton and I have kissed, and that's Natalie Portman.
I think playing Oliver Sachs in Awakenings was a gift because I got to meet him, and got to explore the human brain from the inside out. Because Oliver writes about human behavior subjectively and that for me was the beginning of a fascination with human behavior.
The Injury was my favorite episode. It was such freewheeling comic mayhem but so grounded at the same time.
It's hard to pick, it's like saying pick your favorite child, I can't. I like doing both comedies and dramas, so it's very difficult to say which one I prefer. I've been very blessed to have had the chance to explore such a variety of characters.
My brother Brian was my first great influence. He made much of what I am possible. To this day, if I have a question about something ethical or about being an actor or entertainer or a person or something like that, he's a person who helped form me. Shooting scenes with him is delightful. The idea that the two of us get to entertain is a kick.
That every moment in life is precious? That the gifts of your relationships with others, don't miss it. That was one of the hardest movies I think I ever did in my whole career. Every day was literally hell, because of the nature of the subject matter, dealing with death and being in hell literally. When I watched the final movie, I felt it was extraordinarily beautiful but I felt disappointed by the ending. There was a different ending that they shot that I felt was much more true to the story. It was about reincarnation, basically, that they were going to meet again. The movie ended with two babies being born simultaneously, one in Bombay and one in the United States, and they held them up...
Well, we didn't part well. I was sort of ambitious thinking that I could hire someone that had the intelligence to do a job but didn't have necessarily speech or couldn't quite hear or spoke in sign language. She was a bright person and witty but she had never been away from her home before and even though I tried to accommodate more than I understood when I first hired her, she was very young in her emotional self and the emotional component of being away from her home was lacking. I tried my best, but I was working all day. She was lovely and very smart, but there's a lot of frustration when you meet people who can't speak well. Being completely disabled in that area causes a great amount ...
Sean Bean was great! Huge fan of Game of Thrones! So bummed Ned Stark got murdered! So happy to work with Ned Stark! He's the chillest person ever. He's like... just a normal British guy whom you can just shoot the shit with.
I had a good time working on Dogma, with Kevin and the guys. The only thing I remember about it was being naked for a LOOONG time on the ground... I fall out of the sky naked, so...
I loved making FLETCH. Probably was my second most favorite movie to make, just because I was allowed to make up so much of the dialogue. I can't even remember learning any dialogue! I was just given the right by Michael Ritchie, a terrific director who's passed away, I'm sad to say, but he let me just go. And that's why I had such a good time doing it, and you know, looking back on that, I don't think I've ever been funnier in some ways!
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