[Director Bill Paxton] told me to watch ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance,’ … I go watch it, and I come back and he goes, ‘We are not making ‘Bagger Vance.’

I turned down a scholarship to Yale, … The problem with college is that there’s a tendency to mistake preparation for productivity. You can prepare all you want, but if you never roll the dice you’ll never be successful.

When I first met Josh, I walked into a Disney screening room … and he’s sitting there talking to all these executives, like he’s holding court, … I say ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Josh, are you even old enough to have chest hair?’ And he says ‘No, but you should see my back.’...

Respected, I almost want to be revered, that’s what I’m chasing.

Talent is to actors what luck is to card players. It’s not really anything; it’s just a fictitious word that people have created and labeled things. Talent is like, you know, I never really believed in talent, I believed in drive and determination and preparation, but talent is sort of like luck.

If you asked an 18-year-old what they want to do with their life, and the options are ‘Transformers’ or Lars von Trier, he’s probably shipping out for ‘Transformers.’ If you ask a 26-year-old what he wants to do, ‘Transformers’ or Lars von Trier, he’d probably pick Lars von Trier. So, my sensibilities are changing as...

When you look at golf films before us they’re all – garbage or satire. A lot of sports films tend to vilify the opposition. Where the opposition becomes this big angry monster, so big you can’t beat him.

And yeah, my handicap was down to a 10 when we were at the thick of it. I trained for six or seven months, golfing every day for six hours, seven days a week, with eight trainers. It was intense.

There will always be opportunities to be in love again.

I got kicked out of every school I ever went to.

I didn’t jump onto anyone else’s coattail and ride their wave.

I’m a little territorial and defensive.

I’d love to go to school and have a normal life, but I don’t see any professor at Yale being able to teach me more than Steven Spielberg.

If I could meet my mother and marry her, I would. I would be with my mother now, if she weren’t my mother, as sick as that sounds.

I’m only going to work now when I’m terrified.

I’m a call-sheet junkie. I love being on set. So, the hardest thing for me is dealing with all this idle time. That’s when I get into trouble.

I trained more than anybody ever in a golf film ever made – my swing is pretty hot.

I like messing around, and I like working with artists who I respect.

I come from French Cajun Jewish people.

There’s no room for being a visionary in the studio system. It literally cannot exist.

I’m not an Adonis, that’s for damn sure. I’ve never really thought of myself that way, and it doesn’t matter to me. My favorite actors aren’t Adonises. Dustin Hoffman is a flawed-looking man; he’s amazing to me. Tom Hanks is flawed-looking; people love him. Same with Gene Hackman.

There’s a form of selling out. It’s necessary. You have to become edible for people in Texas. You have to become edible for the Christian right, for mass audiences.

Hey, I’m a human being also.

I think I’m prone to not being a good guy in relationships.

I didn’t read the book on how to be a well-adjusted celebrity.

I grew up around a lot of aggressive guys. My parents used to take me to AA meetings when I was very young. So I know aggression, I know insanity.

Have you ever noticed how most critics disagree with the public? That should tell you a lot about critics.

My mom is the backbone not just of my family but of many families.

That’s one thing I never had to do on a Mike Bay set is sit around and pontificate about the next scene; there’s no time for it. You’re already in the next scene.

And I’m not a personality; otherwise I’d be coming out with an album, performing on MTV. All that stuff is possible and I can do that tomorrow. I just have no need.

Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy.

Sometimes I feel I’m living a meaningless life, and I get frightened.

You can’t buy back your respect; you can’t buy back your career. You only get one, so I don’t want to mess that up.

Yeah, I liked Madagascar , but March is more of a help, because this is the first animation done like documentary-style. It’s also the first animation where everything’s pretty much ad-libbed. All the dialogue’s ad-libbed. It’s groundbreaking. It’s pretty cool.

But this is a little different. This is the adult acting. This is a different crowd. It’s more work and more good work. That’s it. People will have their opinion regardless.

My generation will actually be the first generation that is tamer than the one that came before it, and it will probably be poorer; less fun and less money.

There’s this coming-of-age thing that’s happening within me.

Sometimes perception is almost more important than the skill level of an actor.

My family, my parents are hippies.

I’m not a celebrity, I’ve kind of been under the radar, has kept it easier for me to maintain a career.

I think the audience is pretty intelligent.

I have a great house.

I don’t have to live this lavish lifestyle.

Any time you’re a type, your career’s over.

There’s something about studying body language and non-spoken emotion – I know the innate response. But to really study it like a science would be fun.

I can’t tell you how many hot dogs I’ve eaten in my life.

Old Americana vintage gangster stuff has a fantastical feel; it feels less dirty in a way. It feels like the opera of crime.

I have a very nappy, curly head.

I think penguins are the most human of all the birds, which may be why people love them. They’re cute, they stand upright and they look like they’re wearing tuxedos.

I want my audience to know me for my work, not because of who I’m dating or what drugs I’m on or what club I went to.