"My favorite review described me as the cinematic equivalent of junk mail. I don't know what that means, but it sounds like a dig." "In the beginning, it wasn't even a question of deciding I'm going to do independent film and not commercial films -- I wasn't being offered any commercial films, and there wasn't an independent scene. I did a lot of "so-called" independent films that were really low-budget films trying to be commercial. But you certainly make choices when you have a script written by Jim Jarmusch or the Coen brothers or Alexandre Rockwell; I think any actor would feel lucky to be able to work on projects like that." "It's weird; I was not a really tough guy in high school, but I end up playing all of these psychopaths and criminals. I don't really care who they are, as long as they are complicated and going through something that I can understand and put across." "As much as you tell yourself, 'We made the film and here it is and that is enough,' you would like to come away with something." "I don't tend to think of these characters as losers [I play]. I like the struggles that people have, people who are feeling like they don't fit into society, because I still sort of feel that way." "When I get cast, I always flip to the end of the script to see if my character gets beaten up or killed. I really thought that after getting killed on The Sopranos I should not accept scripts where I die. I mean, there's nowhere to go after getting killed by Tony Soprano. But then I got offered this great part in The Island. I didn't even make it a third of the way through the movie. I have been surviving a lot more lately, though." "The only thing I can compare the feeling of going onstage to is the fear you feel before going into a burning building. Once you go in there, the fear goes away and you're operating on adrenaline. And when it's over, if you've done well, it's something you've shared with these people you automatically feel close to." "I admire any director who makes his living solely from directing. I'm fortunate enough to earn a decent wage by occasionally playing psychopaths in other people's movies, allowing me the luxury of not having to depend on the movies I direct to put food on the table. I especially admire independent directors like Tom DiCillo and Alexandre Rockwell, who never stop trying to create their own way."