I like listening to my playlist on the iPod. I don't want radio with commercials.

It's a lot of fun to be a part of films that you don't exactly know how they're going to turn out.

When I'm not acting, I like to go home and be really normal. So I usually grow out my hair until I get the next part.

I used to write a lot of songs. I was an English major in college. I was a deluded poet for a year. Totally deluded.

When I'm not excited, it makes acting very hard for me.

'Looper' was a wonderful script. Rian Johnson is the real deal and a really talented filmmaker.

Have I seen any plays that I've been in? Uh, you know, might be a little weird.

I volunteered at a homeless shelter in preparation for 'Being Flynn,' and when I'm walking along the Bowery, that's the first thing that comes to mind. That's a nice memory.

I think 'American Pie' is great.

I really don't want to go to work every day convincing myself of what I'm saying. I want the material to make me a better actor; then I try to return the favor to the material.

I don't really know what kind of actor I am.

A lot of people think I must be weird because of the films I've done. I get that.

I don't like tight pants on guys.

The idea of writer's block or not having inspiration is totally terrifying to me.

I think the idea is to try and understand everything about the characters and where the character is coming from, from their point of view, why they say what they do. And not, 'Oh, but I would never say that. Why does the character say that?' But then making it as personal as possible.

In 'There Will Be Blood,' my character was someone who was an actor himself almost. He had a rehearsed quality about him. He was a performance artist in a way.

I am baffled by good writing.

I would not take a girl to a club on a Thursday. I would not take her to a really noisy, swanky restaurant.

I mean, to feel in good hands as an actor... it's the best feeling.

Films can be entertaining without shying away from exploring something. They can be magical and have fantasy, but also can have enough reality that you can be really emotionally invested.

People think memorizing lines is hard, when that's the last thing you worry about. You get that done, and then you've got to worry about the internal stuff, which is the challenging part.

As an actor, I always feel you basically have to be able to delude yourself.

I think that one of the strangest things about being an actor is, it's almost freelance work.

I'm not a big shopper. I'm a pretty simple dresser, and that's not my pleasure go-to thing, looking for clothes.