I don’t have a preference between theatre and film; I like to do both. But I will say that there’s something about theatre that is more nourishing and sustaining than film ever can be.

I’m not attracted to naturalism, I’m not attracted to behavior, I’m attracted to dance. I’m attracted to gesture, I’m attracted to singing with your voice, as opposed to having a natural manner. I’m a theater...

I think on some level, you do your best things when you’re a little off-balance, a little scared. You’ve got to work from mystery, from wonder, from not knowing.

Celebrity is okay as long as you know it’s not about you.

When I give over to somebody’s vision rather than have an idea of what I need to do, it takes me to places I wouldn’t have got to by myself. I’m always attracted to a...

In my experience, sometimes a movie just hits at the wrong time, gets the wrong press, or gets the wrong representation, and it gets misunderstood.

I have no doubt that if I met Bob Dylan, it would be disappointing – and annoying to him. But that’s why I like Bob Dylan.

I set myself challenges every time I work. Ideally, I approach everything as though it’s the first time – with a beginner’s mind and an amateur’s love.

That’s a frustration sometimes, that certain directors that I’d like to work with, they just aren’t doing stories that I’m sort of castable in. Not always, but sometimes I have that frustration.

Corruption is something you face all the time. Avoid it.

I love theaters. I love the event of going there and seeing a movie with a lot of people. I like the community coming around the story.

One of the pleasures of going to the movies for me is quite simply to see new ways, to think about broader ways or to challenge something as a given. It’s usually people from outside,...

The best thing an actor can be is ready. Be flexible, be ready.

I think back story can help guide your choices, but when you’re playing a scene, you’re not making choices; you’re just intuitive.

I was born William. My father was William. I came from a big family, I hated being called Billy. Willem’s a nickname; it’s a Dutch name, very common in the Netherlands.

Film is an editor’s medium. You can create very good raw material and they can make it horrible, or you can do not so well and they can make it beautiful. You don’t really know.

Emotionally men and women are different, but only as a result of the physical differences. It all comes back to our bodies.

I was watching ‘Wild at Heart,’ and I can honestly say I did nothing for that apart from show up!

I’ve been a prisoner and lived in prison for a while; I’ve been a missionary in China; I’ve been a vampire and a priest in Poland in World War II. I guess without bragging or...

There’s a real wisdom to not saying a thing.

I try to do as many of my own stunts as possible. If you keep on taking yourself out of the role you play, you lose the thread of the character.

The bad things about theatre get balanced by the good things in film and vice versa. So to tell you the truth, I love it when I can go back and forth – it feeds...

I love doing action and stuff; the problem is usually action movies are not that interesting. Also as I get older I feel like there’s less opportunities for me.

You have to lose yourself to find yourself.

I’ll never be able to really see a film that I’m in.

his approach to filmmakers and serving his stories.