I don't know if likeable, pleasant characters have enough conflict for me to want to do them. I admire those people, but I've never been that kind of screen presence who can do nothing. I need to do something.

I do think of myself as a bit of a loner, a bit of an independent. I'm one of those people who, when they're sick, like to curl up and remove myself. I don't like a lot of people around. There is nothing you can do to help.

We want people who come from humble backgrounds and have a need to win.

I always thought of myself as a kind of literary bureaucrat. And that was never going to be enough for me.

I've been fortunate enough to be headstrong, to be full of self-belief, and those things have never wavered for me.

A 65-ft.-wide screen and 500 people reacting to the movie, there is nothing like that experience.