| on losing the 2005 Oscar to Jamie
Foxx ... "I wasn't surprised that Jamie got
the award. But I knew that cameras would be stuffed up my
face so I had my response ready. Anyone who says they don't
practice is a liar."
"People want you to be a crazy, out-of-control teen
brat. They want you miserable, just like them. They don't
want heroes; what they want is to see you fall."
"The best thing about acting is that
I get to lose myself in another character and actually get
paid for it. It's a great outlet. As for myself, I'm not sure
who I am. It seems that I change every day."
on being a movie star ... "You can
either be a vain movie star, or you can try to shed some light
on different aspects of the human condition."
on being famous ... "As soon as enough
people give you enough compliments and you're wielding more
power than you've ever had in your life, it's not that you
become an arrogant little prick, or become rude to people
... but you get a false sense of your own importance and what
you've accomplished. You actually think you've altered the
course of history."
on being aloof ... "It's a really obvious
thing to say, but the more people know too much about who
you really are, and it's a fundamental thing, the more the
mystery is taken away from the artist, and the harder it is
for people to believe that person in a particular role."
on being extremely rich ... "I don't
really have many extravagances. I don't fly private jets and
I don't have bodyguards and I don't buy crazy things. I have
a couple of houses here and there. I bought a very expensive
watch, and I am going to buy a really expensive movie poster,
the original for 'The Thief of Baghdad.' I love movie posters."
on disliking aspects of fame ... "You
kidding? I feel very fortunate. A lot of people would love
to be in my position. There are so many people out there who
are suffering trillions of times more than I could ever suffer,
and would love to be me. I am a lucky little bastard."
"You learn after you've been in the business for a while
that it's not getting your face recognized that's the payoff.
It's having your film remembered."
"I lived in Hollywood and, ironically, I didn't know
you could just go out and get an agent and go on auditions
and try and become an actor, I thought it was like a Masonic
thing, like a blood line you had to belong to - until I was
13. Then I realised what you had to do. It is the one thing
I know I want to do for the rest of my life."
on turning 30 ... "I kind of feel
like the same person except more time has gone by. I hate
to say that I feel like an adult now. I have to admit I wish
I was still 18. After all, even through the time while I was
representing that wild kid, I really wasn't. I was just living
my life. I was just not making movies at the time."
"The great thing about turning 30 in this business is
that you get to perpetuate being young or old as long as we
want."
on his diversity ... "Yes, I can play
younger than my age. But I can play characters older than
I am, too. I'm not an actor who can just play the kid."
on tabloid gossips ... "I think people
read the tabloids because they want to see you eating a burger,
or out of your makeup or doing something stupid because they
just want to see that you're like everyone else. And that's
OK. I don't want to catch myself anymore saying that my life
is hard, because the good far outweighs the bad in my life.
And it's easier to focus on those things, on the things that
are important."
|
