My father calls acting 'a state of permanent retirement with short spurts of work.'

I never really thought about myself being in really big movies at all. In fact, I always though I'd do, I don't know, smaller movies is not quite the right word, but more character-oriented, dramatic things. I took myself a little bit seriously.

The first audition I went out on was because my father was on an audition for a TV show called the 'Gilmore Girls,' and that kind of snowballed a lot of stuff in my life.

I think we just live in a time of the selfie. So there's a sense that everyone's uniqueness and importance on this planet should be displayed and reveled in, and that there's kind of a piece of glory for everyone.

For me growing up, Christmas time was always the most fantastic, exciting time of year, and you'd stay up until three in the morning. You'd hear the parents wrapping in the other room but you knew that also, maybe, they were in collusion with Santa Claus.

Film is just a different version of what we did round the campfire when we were Neanderthals. We tell stories so people can learn things and relativise things.

Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.

I think the first thing that I saw on IMAX was 'The Avengers.' The scope and the size of it are pretty neat, I will say that.

I cry all the time - at work, at the shrink's, with my lady. 'The Notebook' killed me. 'Up' destroyed me.

I'm definitely of the 'less is more' mentality, and what I really appreciate is that fragrance is chemical, and it changes with your body throughout the day. It's a very deeply personal thing. One smell on one person isn't the same on another, and I appreciate the uniqueness of that experience.

Those big films are scary things. There's so much money behind those things. There's that hype. You enter a machine.

I feel prematurely old. I'm actually having this major belated quarter-life crisis. I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking a lot about mortality. A lot about what I'm going to do with my life and how to enjoy it. One of the things I'm going to work on is being more spontaneous, letting go, embracing the beauty of come-what-may.

For me, work is one thing, and my life is another.

Generally speaking, the more money that's involved in anything, the more people are expecting and hoping that it's not going to fail.

We come from fallible parents who were kids once, who decided to have kids and who had to learn how to be parents. Faults are made and damage is done, whether it's conscious or not. Everyone's got their own 'stuff,' their own issues, and their own anger at Mom and Dad. That is what family is. Family is almost naturally dysfunctional.

I'm an actor, but I am an awful liar.

Not a fan of spiders. I saw the movie 'Arachnophobia,' which was single-handedly rated in the top three worst choices of my life.

I'm sensitive, and I don't ever want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

Imagination is a pretty powerful thing, and when you're in the moment and you're riding a train and you're asked to look scared, I don't know, it just kind of works out. And in those moments where you're actually doing some of the stunts, then it's not so hard at all, because there's an actual fear there.

In high school, I once sang 'Let's Get It On' and 'Brown Sugar' with a band that included my English teacher and my math teacher.

I grew up in a house where my father went on auditions, and he got some and he lost some, and there were good years and lean years. I didn't expect anything from the business, and that's often a danger in Hollywood, the notion that if you're pretty and have white teeth and just show up for the game then you'll win.

What am I going to tweet about? My sneakers? Or, 'I have 140,000 friends on Facebook.' What does that even mean? I find it to be a waste of time.

I work out because that's my job, but what I enjoy about it, beyond the vanity, is the Zen of it. I like getting out of my head, and one great way to do that is to sweat your face off. And to know that, if you're thinking of anything else, you're not working intensely enough.

I talk to myself, especially in the car.

I performed and sang at school but as a child it was never anything I was interested in doing professionally.

Women think that men don't talk about their feelings with guys. We do talk to friends about relationships, but it's succinct - 10 minutes, then we move on.

I don't know any kid that's not afraid at some point going to bed with the lights off, totally. That's why they make nightlights.

I think it's a very healthy thing to learn from what's happened in the past. But only if you look at what happened and think, 'How could I have dealt with that differently?' Then let it go.

I do like dating cynics - they tend to be incredibly funny.

My grandmother was an actress too. In the thirties and forties she was under contract with Universal Studios. Crazy credits, lots of them. My dad was also under contract with Universal Studios. And my first film was shot on the same stage they both worked on at Universal.

I'm more cerebral than I want to be.

Work takes up a lot of my brain space. So when I work, it's one thing. I don't have a lot of time to think about dating.

Fear runs our lives. It doesn't matter who you are. You have to understand your relationship with fear. Whether you're scared of getting into a relationship; or taking the new job; or a confrontation - you have to size fear up.

I'm always calculating what I want to do, who I want to be, what I want to accomplish. I don't need to worry about that - that's always there on a slow simmer. The muscle I have to work on is being more present.

I was a shy kid, a late bloomer. At 22, I was probably 16 emotionally.

'Star Trek' scared me a lot more than 'White Jazz.' It terrified me, really. Because of the scale, the responsibility, the fact that it was this iconic character. It was the bigger challenge, so I had to take it.

When you want something enough, it brings out primal emotions. You get into this place of 'must happen, must happen.'

When you feel like an oddball, it never really leaves you. Even now, I'm better around people who are uncomfortable with themselves - the misfits.

Theater will always be a huge part of my life. The high I get from doing theater is not, quite honestly, matched by many things. I like the fact that when you step out on the stage, for that given night, for better or for worse, you are the master of the boards. I love it to death.

My nana was an actress, my mom was an actress, and my sister, too. So because I was surrounded by it, it really came naturally.

I find it really hard to even read another script while shooting.

I would love to do more theatre, musicals... everything.

'Star Trek' is about a bunch of disparate people and what they're capable of when they work together.

My fans have designated themselves the, uh, 'Pine Nuts.' They're a nutty bunch.

I'm so envious of that genetic wiring that immediately puts a smile on your face. My genetic wiring just puts creases in my eyebrows.

Just lead your life and try to make the best decisions.

Any actor wants to do interesting roles, different roles. It's not all that much fun to do the same thing over and over again.

I do enjoy doing action quite clearly, but I also really like doing comedy.

I enjoy dating. I love first dates. I think they're incredibly fascinating studies in human psychology. When you sit down across from someone on a first date and things are going alright, you talk objectives. We want to win each other over, so how do you win someone over? You have to put the best foot forward.

Everybody's got family, or they don't have family, but they come from somewhere.