The funny thing is that I write and I act a lot about being Jewish, but I don't really think about it as a regular person.

I think New York will always be this incredible international crossroads, and I don't think that will ever change.

Actors, you know, they're often awkward people in real life.

And I think for me there's a lot of neurosis involved with where you should be or thinking about where you are all the time instead of being where you are.

As soon as you know what you're doing, you're doing it wrong. That's what I find with acting. As soon as it becomes padded, it becomes pat.

That's one of the benefits of working on big budget films. You work with people who have a lot of experience and you get to learn a lot.

Where else do you find great directors? Acting is one of the places.

I'm a typically lazy person. It is sort of characteristic of actors.

Film is such a bizarre vehicle for acting. It's such a bizarre experience. I don't think you ever really get familiar with it. If you do get familiar with it, you're probably not that good anymore.

I am very good with dialects, but the two that I can't do for some reason are the South African and Australian.

I'm actually a very bad surfer, which is good because everybody likes a bad surfer. Nobody likes a good surfer.

Don't hit people; don't let it get you too angry; remember that everything you do can and will be used against you. And take a breath and have some perspective.

You watch a hockey game, and the hand-eye coordination and the speed is really miraculous; how those guys track the puck alone, just following it with their eyes.

I think that everything I've ever done at some point is part of someone else's legacy.

Part of what I enjoy about the theatre and acting is that sense of history.

You always have to create the character from the ground up.

Well, I don't think I've ever been a huge target for the press, and I value that to a degree, because there's a certain value for actors staying beneath the radar so they can play characters.

The best gig is the one you've got.

No, I grew up admiring people who played ice hockey.

I think it's really, really important to mix it up as an actor, to try to get as much kind of varied experience as you can, not only for your own personal growth as an actor but for the audience to keep them guessing about what you're going to do.

I get panic attacks in big crowds.

I'm kind of an obsessive-compulsive person, like, neat obsessive.

I really never thought I was that good at film. And honestly still don't. My strength is language. My background is monologues and a certain kind of Brechtian spin on theater.

My grandfather was raising me, and in many respects, I was trying to understand what it meant to be a man. He was my role model.

Everyone says villains are thankless parts, but those are really the best roles.

You hear different things from different people, and they're all valid: they're all valuable. I think that's what comprises a performance is all those ideas.

During 'Manchurian Candidate' - that role originated with Laurence Harvey, and I studied everything he did. I would never be able to reproduce that performance, but I got a lot of ideas from watching it.

I went to school in Massachusetts at Hampshire College.

I think conflicted characters are always more interesting.

I'm someone who started in the theater and really couldn't stand repeating the show. My favorite part of acting is the five or six weeks of rehearsal that you get. I like doing previews; I like the opening week because my friends and family come, and then after that, I don't want to do it anymore.

I had great teachers, great ensembles, and great companies to work with who supported my career.

No offense to the Canadians, but I believe location is like a character, and authenticity really matters. When you're in a place like New York or D.C., you just can't beat it, and it's so hard to recreate because they are both such distinctive places. I think it's pretty easy these days to tell films that are shot in Toronto.

I'm terrible with big parties.

I was always curious about motivation and intention, and really, that's a lot of what acting is. I was a little bit different.

The guy who kind of broke the story in 'Spotlight' was a priest, the guy who had sort of done all the research. One of the things he said when one of the 'Spotlight' reporters asked him how he could still remain a Catholic, he said that, 'My faith is in the eternal, and the church is an organization.'

We have to remember to respect the faith of people and maybe not the organizations or the groups that manifest around it.

My mother didn't let me see color films. I saw a lot of black-and-white films. The first time I saw Basil Rathbone, I was completely taken. To me, that was the epitome of great acting, was Basil Rathbone - not only in Sherlock Holmes, but the Sheriff of Nottingham, and all the terrible characters he had to play alongside Errol Flynn.

The interesting thing about doing serial television is that the character is growing separate from you, the character and the show are growing, and you get to observe that and participate with it in a way that I think is actually really exciting for an actor.

It's finding time for each other. That's the trick to any relationship, you know. Finding time to really be present for each other.

I remember finding 'Harold and Maude' strangely erotic. I've always had an octogenarian fetish.

The worst bar fights I ever saw were in London. I saw a guy break a pint glass in another guy's face in a club in the Eighties. It was a gay club, too.

When my grandpa was moved to physical action, you felt utter terror.

I have the kind of face that people want to punch.

Theater is consistent. You ride your bike to work. You get most of the day off so you can see your kids. My problem is that after three months, I go mad. One of the reasons I never thought I could do a TV show is that I hate doing the same thing over and over again.