That joy of a creative environment, without any restrictions, is hard to leave.
I've been fortunate in my career to have the opportunity to pick and choose the parts I play. I've also been lucky to always be involved with quality actors, quality directors, quality writers.
I was raised a Democrat, and now I'm an Independent.
Everyone has this vision of Jones as a maniacal ogre. Wrong. He was charming, sweet, and a fabulous speaker.
I'm really enjoying the character now, but I don't want to just be Philip Marlowe. I wouldn't mind playing him every couple of years, perhaps, as a kind of open franchise - you know?
I've always wanted to play a hard-boiled gumshoe, as they say.
When I first came to Hollywood, I played about as many guys who save the day and get the girl as I played heavies. It's just that heavies are more interesting and last in people's minds.
One thing that's thematically consistent in 'Sin City' is that all the performances seem to be of the same genre, like we're singing the same song.
Some stars can make five or six failures in a row and continue to work - with a raise. I can't figure how that works. Maybe foreign sales or a smart agent.
I think I'm pretty politically informed, and I find myself watching Senate hearings on C-SPAN.
Before I accept a job, I always talk to folks about it. 'Why does he kill these 22 people?' If they say, 'What difference does it make?' I know we have nothing more to talk about. A character has to be three-dimensional.
I wanted to be in 'The Emerald Forest.' I chased that one for six months before it all came about. I wanted to work with John Boorman!
The first 10 years I was a professional actor, I did Shakespeare.
I got a lot of flak; in Texas, football is not only the social thing you must do, but you do it also to prove your manhood. They all couldn't conceive of why I'd want to stop to do 'The Importance of Being Earnest.'
I was the first one in the family, on either side, to go to college - much less graduate school.
If you're down, it's curse; if you're up, it's a blessing.
When I'm out there, it's just me. Nobody's controlling me, and I can do whatever I want to do. I'm my own man.
Sometimes, I feel like directors look at me and say, 'I want to put that boy in the jungle. I want to hurt him.'
If I rob a gas station, I'm going to get 15 years. If I steal $400 million on Wall Street, I start plea-bargaining.
I was raised a proper Southern boy.
