The reason bin Laden staggered the planes going into the towers was so every camera would be focused on the second tower when the plane hit. It was not only the murder, but the perpetual image of the horror that permeated into people's consciousness.

Well, acting itself is a form of rebellion, always. Getting up there in front of people, telling stories - you're kind of going against the grain to begin with, wanting to do that, don't you think? Why else would you do it? Except maybe as kind of a way to affirm your very existence.

A lot of people are not meant to be together.

The movies have got more corporate, they're making fewer movies in general, and those they are making are all $200-$300m tent-pole releases that eat up all the oxygen.

I don't tend to think in terms of a moral authority - be a good boy, do good things - more in terms of what feels right.

I feel like I'm a filmmaker; I don't feel I need to yell action and cut.

Getting trapped back in the '80s, it's almost like a comic nightmare, which for me is a very real nightmare. Every time I flip through the cable, I have flashbacks.

But no, I don't really like romantic comedies, so I don't really care. I never go see 'em.

I feel close to Lloyd in 'Say Anything'. He was like a super-interesting version of me. Only I'm not as good as him. Whatever part of me is romantic and optimistic, I reached into that to play Lloyd.

Most movies, once the action starts there's no more characters. You say a couple of dumb lines and then there's just explosions until the end.

I was a teen star. That's disgusting enough.

Roy, the guy I play in 'The Grifters,' is a guy who had a very bleak life. His mother had him at 13, and then when she was 17 or 18 and he was 4 or 5, they were trapped in a small Texas town somewhere, and she was ready to do anything to get out.

I always liked it when people go back in time to discover things about themselves, like with 'A Christmas Carol' and you're getting a tour of your life by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

A lot of powerful people in Washington may think it's a crazy-leftist-fringe position to think the intellectual authors of a torture regime should be investigated and prosecuted.

The film is not a success until it makes money. It's only good when there's a dollar figure attached to the box office.

Of course, I think it is legitimate for the Commander-in-Chief to be concerned for the safety of his soldiers.

You can only really judge yourself in comparison to other people. How bad you are, but you're not as bad as someone else. So it's degrees of losing.

I was raised Irish Catholic, but I don't consider myself Irish Catholic: I consider myself me, an American.

Our parents more or less just kind of wanted us to pursue our passions. Whatever they would have been, they would have helped light the fire. They are very liberal, artistic people, but they didn't force us into acting. They let us find our own ways.

Kitsch is more dangerous than it looks when taken to the extreme.

Acting can be pretty challenging. I can't say making a romantic comedy is challenging, but to do anything well, you have to put yourself into it.

I think when you get to the point where you don't need to be in love, then you could be in love. You have to just be OK with yourself-and that's a long process.

Hopefully as you get older you get more selfless. That would be probably a good goal. I don't know if we do, though.

Every role you do is kind of a side of yourself. That's why they give you the part.

I just love the process of working with other actors. It's like jamming with a musician, except it takes a little more effort to get to that place as an actor, because you have the cameras and lights and everything. But I love jamming with these people.

I guess maybe I'm idealistic.

No, actors go out with actresses as a form of self-flagellation.

When applied to politics and taken to its extreme, kitsch is the mask of death. Fascism was all aesthetics. There was no core principle to it. There was no truth to it.

You just try to get the best jobs that you can get. Sometimes I produce my own movies, so that's your own sort of vision. That helps things. I don't know what it is. Probably just circumstance. I've definitely been aware of the fact that I want to do different things.

Art is spiritual.

Good actors can sort of see into people and immediately you have a chemistry with them or not. It's like an affair with no mess.

I have a bit of a rebellious nature.

I was never interested in being an overly public person.

The British keep employing me, and that makes me like them. It also makes me think they're very intelligent.

Usually I play people who just keep babbling on and on and on.

New York's like a boxing match. In Hollywood, it's like a Fellini movie or something.

I think the more you expose yourself as a celebrity, the less interesting you are to watch in your work, because if you're putting yourself out there all the time, you're not holding anything back.

I just love the process of working with other actors.

I try not to dwell on the past. I'm not a big go-back-and-try-to-relive-your-past kinda person.

Well, any time you do anything good, it's man versus himself, right? That's the art, the challenge.

Usually I do everything reverse. I practice something in movies and then I try it in real life.

I was never into the popular school or clique or anything. Then I started doing movies when I was in high school, so then I got popular. Then the girls paid attention to you who didn't before.

My point was that it's hard to make good films, but I'm not under any illusion that you do all the time.

My job is to just express something that I want to express. And if I'm ahead or behind the curve, that's for others to decide.

I never wanted to come off as self-important.

I read Noam Chomsky. I like some of Gore Vidal's stuff.

I don't walk around talking about my life and spouting my philosophy to people I don't know. I mean, if I get to know them, I'll talk for hours. I guess I like a lower-key scene.

Having people remember something that you did 25 years ago doesn't suck.

I was working with a great actress - a superior artist in every way - and she really liked Celine Dion. I tried very hard, but I couldn't understand it. I just can't listen to Celine Dion! So I guess music is a deal breaker.