[on wishing he had heard a story like his own in his early 20s] - This would have helped me, at least, if someone would have made me realize that you don't need to do drugs to be artistic and express yourself. If you want to be artistic, if you want to be creative, if you want to express yourself, you can't let things get in your way, and drugs are included in that. [on what happened after "American Beauty" (1999)] - I wanted fame, but I thought it would be incremental, and I became afraid of the overnight-sensation thing. I started walking into rooms, and everyone would look at me, and I would freeze up. People kept saying, 'You have to find your next movie,' and that didn't make life any better.