It's not our job to play judge and jury, to determine who is worthy of our kindness and who is not. We just need to be kind, unconditionally and without ulterior motive, even - or rather, especially - when we'd prefer not to be.
Kindness is not about instant gratification. More often, it's akin to a low-risk investment that appreciates steadily over time.
No matter how dark things may get in a story, I feel it's the responsibility of the storyteller to leave the audience with at least a shred of hope.
I think the word 'earnest' kind of has a negative connotation on some level. I think one of the things that's happened is that being cynical is somehow conflated with being sophisticated. I think that's problematic, to say the least.
There's something melancholy about professors because they're chronically abandoned. They form these lovely relationships with students and then the students leave and the professors stay the same. It's like they're chronically abandoned.
I'm a little less hungry as an actor than I used to be. When you're a director, you're the conductor of the orchestra, and when you're an actor, you're playing the violin. There's a thrill to each of them, but as the conductor, you get the fuller sound.
Well, I stopped drinking. That was actually a big deal. I didn't go through any harrowing rock-bottom experience. I just made a decision to stop drinking.
I care about reading, a lot. It's a big part of my life.
Even though I occasionally appear on it, I don't watch television.
I'll say this, and this has nothing to do with gender or sexuality: You do not want to get licked in the face repeatedly by another human being. You just don't. It's not pleasant.
Everyone has expectations. You just don't want to have them dashed, so you're quiet about them.
I kicked college nostalgia in my late 20s. As much as I loved college and treasure the memories, I no longer want to go back.
It really shocks me when I encounter people who think kindness doesn't matter. Because I think it's pretty much the only thing that matters.
We are so vocal about what we hate.
I sometimes don't know what I'm writing when I start writing it, on some level.
I'm not sitting around saying, 'Man, I'd really love to direct a western.' That's just not something I'm probably going to do, mostly because I'm allergic to horses.
You know, I'm not saying, 'Oh, because I play a good guy on TV, I need to suddenly be villainous in a movie.' I look at it more like: does this role has a kind of urgency for me in terms of, 'Can I not say no to it for whatever reason?'
We're like a gardener with a hose and our attention is water - we can water flowers or we can water weeds.
Cynicism is kind of like folding your arms and stepping back and commenting on things, like the old guys in 'The Muppets,' just throwing out comments all the time, whereas there are other people on the ground really trying to affect things and improve their lives and the lives of other people. I think it's noble and I think it's cool.
I haven't left the house without a packet of Kleenex in my back pocket for as long as I can remember. Whenever I start thinking I'm incredibly cool, the packet of Kleenex in my back pocket brings me right back down to earth.
