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I Wrote A Letter To The Magazine [time Magazine] Pointing Out That [richard] Corliss's Comparison Of Christopher Lee's Saruman To Osama Bin Laden, And The Vastly Outnumbered Defenders Of Helm's Deep United Against The Orcs To The "coalition Of The Willing" Fighting The Good Fight Against Muslim Hordes, Displayed The Simplistic, Xenophobic, And Arrogant Worldview That Makes The Government Of The United States Feared And Mistrusted Around The World. The Editors Claimed They Had No Space To Print My Brief Letter, Which I Felt Was Dishonest And Cowardly.

-Viggo Mortensen

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I Wrote A Letter

Viggo Mortensen

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I Wrote A Letter To The Magazine [time Magazine] Pointing Out That [richard] Corliss's Comparison Of Christopher Lee's Saruman To Osama Bin Laden, And The Vastly Outnumbered Defenders Of Helm's Deep United Against The Orcs To The "coalition Of The Willing" Fighting The Good Fight Against Muslim Hordes, Displayed The Simplistic, Xenophobic, And Arrogant Worldview That Makes The Government Of The United States Feared And Mistrusted Around The World. The Editors Claimed They Had No Space To Print My Brief Letter, Which I Felt Was Dishonest And Cowardly.

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I'd Like To, When It's All Said And Done, Say That I Have At Least A Few Stories That I Feel Proud Of.

I Grew Up With Horses When I Was A Kid In Argentina. I Like Them. I Respect Them. I'm Careful Around Them. You Never Know What They're Going To Do. They're Endlessly Interesting. I've Had Some Good Acting Partners That Were Horses Over The Years.

In Principle, I Think The Idea Of Rewarding A Good Effort Is Interesting, But Movies Are Generally Different From Each Other As Are Performances And The Conditions On How The Performances Are Given And How They're Edited And So Forth.

If You Don't Find Some Way To Discuss What's Going On Inside You, It Can Come Out In Other Ways That Are Self-destructive.

Here's Where We Are, This Is What's Happening. So Do Something, Or Get Out Of The Kitchen.

I Think The Older You Get The Harder It Is To [lose] Probably. Your Metabolism Slows Down, Whatever, But I'm A Pretty Active Person.

It Is Important To Keep Protesting, To Keep Forcing A Conversation In The Public Arena. In Any Case, When You Know What The Right Thing To Do Is, Or That Something Must Be Said, It Can Be Immoral And Dangerous Not To Act.

We All Have Secrets, Some Secrets Bigger Than Others, Is A Normal Human Thing.

In A Way, Editing Is Not Unlike The Movies. The Best Books, Just Like The Best Movies, Are A Collaboration. They're Only As Good As The Compromise Made Between The Artists Involved.

I Don't Speak Up About Something Unless I Feel Strongly About It And Until I've Researched A Subject Extensively And Have An Informed Decision About It.

You Can't Really Go Back To Where You Came From. I Don't Think Any Of Us Can.

In Other Words, I’m Against Cheating, Greed, Cruelty, Racism, Imperialism, Religious Fundamentalism, Treason, And The Seemingly Limitless Capacity For Hypocrisy Shown By Bush And His Administration.

It Doesn't Matter How Bad Things Are, Something Good Could Happen Always. And It Doesn't Matter How Many Excuses You Have For Behaving In An Unkind Manner Towards Others. There's Never Any Excuse For Not Being Kind And It's Always Better To Be Kind Even If It Seems Pointless And That In Fact Is The Highest Wisdom - Being Kind. It Sounds Like A Very Noble, Ethereal, Simplistic Idea But It's True.

The Money I Earn From Films Means I Can Help The People I Want To Help - You Can Do A Lot Of Good If You Want To.

You Should Always Do The Things In Life That Are Both Interesting And Make You Afraid.

When I Make A Movie, I Don't Break It Down And Analyze It. I Could But It Would Get In The Way Of Doing A Job - On Instinct Based On All The Research We Did Going In. You Want To Trust Yourself And Your Director And Your Acting Partners In The Circumstances You're Shooting. I Don't Like To Have Any Kind Of Overview.

There Are People That Grandstand And Seem To Be Publicly Politically Engaged Because They Like The Attention, More Than Because They're Genuinely Concerned About The World. But I Don't Think That's The Majority.

'the Road' Is About That Fear That All Parents Can Have. What's Going To Happen To Your Child If You're Not Around? It Takes Those Concerns To An Extreme. In The Film, Without Me The Boy Has No Food, No Shelter, No Resources At All.

One Of The Main Ways That Leadership Stays In Power Is By, In Various Ways, Convincing People That They Should Just Let Those Who Are In Government Govern: 'trust Us. Trust Me. Just Let Us Take Care Of Things. Stay Out Of It.' Your Opinions Don't Really Matter. You Are Isolated. You Are Insignificant.

One Of The Best Pieces Of Advice I Ever Got Was From A Horse Master. He Told Me To Go Slow To Go Fast. I Think That Applies To Everything In Life. We Live As Though There Aren't Enough Hours In The Day But If We Do Each Thing Calmly And Carefully We Will Get It Done Quicker And With Much Less Stress.

I'm Optimistic About People And About The Planet And About Nature. I Think It's Resilient, Like People Are.

I Think Every Family Is Dysfunctional, And Some Manage To Control It Better Than Others.

Perhaps The Itinerant Upbringing My Brothers And I Had Has Something To Do With My Continued Interest In Perspectives Different From My Own.

Like Most People I Can Be Lazy, So It's Nice To Have A Goal Or Deadline Or Reason To Work Out. I Feel Better When I Get To Exercise, Or When I'm Outdoors. I Like To Hike, Swim And Run, And I Love To Play Soccer.

You See People On The Street Yelling And Think They're Crazy, But Maybe They're Just Happy And Expressing What They Feel At All Times.

I've Never Had A Problem With People Paying Attention To What You're Doing And Say They Find That They Liked It.

Jung Viewed Freud As A Mentor, But He Never Wanted To Be Anybody's Disciple.

When I Was A Little Boy, I Rode, But I Didn't Own Horses.

Can You Join, Ask Sincerely For Affection Without Sweaty Hand Of Expectation, Understanding And Accepting If It Never Is Given?

I Think, On A Surface Level, People Are Surprised To See Me Playing Such A Passive Role In 'good.'

It's Hard Not To Get Depressed When You Pay Attention To The World And How Strangely And Corrupt The People In It Sometimes Behave.

The Black Lives Matter Movement, The Various Occupy Movements In Spain And The Rest Of Europe, In This Country, And Elsewhere Serve As An Example Of What Can Be Done, And How Strong The Voices For Positive Change And Truly Democratic Progress Can Be.

You Can't Really Divorce Yourself And Your Life From The World You Live In.

A Little Recognition Is Not A Bad Thing Because It Means People Appreciate Your Work. The Only Problem Is When You Can't Walk Down The Street Or Have A Meal Without People Looking At You. I Want To Be The One Looking At People.

I'm Not Afraid Of Death, But I Resent It. I Think It's Unfair And Irritating. Every Time I See Something Beautiful, I Not Only Want To Return To It, But It Makes Me Want To See Other Beautiful Things. I Know I'm Not Going To Get To All The Places I Want To Go.

Looking At Acting, In The Movies Or The Theater, And The Way I Like To Look At It, It’s Just An Extension Of Childhood Play… Kids Play And Imagine In A Very Intense Fashion And They Don’t Need Any Director Telling Them “you Really Have To Believe In It.” They Believe In It Completely.

Speaking More Than One Language And Living In A Multicultural Family And Environment Did Not Seem Like Anything But What It Was: The World I Lived In.

I Try To Research Or Make Up For Myself What Happened In Any Character's Life. From When He Was Born Until The First Page Of The Script. I Fill In The Blanks.

[captain Fantastic] It's A Great Story. It's One Of The Better Scripts I've Read, Ever, As Far As Being Great From Beginning To End. It Handles A Variety Of Characters. You Have Six Children Who All Stand On Their Own, They're All Individuals. And It Touches On A Very Real Issue, Which Is The Lack Of Cohesion And Communication In America Right Now.

I Have Friends Who I Get Along With Who I Know Get Very Uncomfortable Being Alone, Unless They're With People, Talking All The Time. Whether It's On The Phone, Or In Person, They're Never By Themselves. Whereas I Could Be Alone For Months.

People Will Like To Say That 'eastern Promises' Is Brutal, But The Only Reason They Say That Is Because The Scenes Stick With Them. They Are Realistic. They Are In-your-face And You See The Consequences. It's Not A Bunch Of Quick Editing Cuts.

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I'm Not A Great Fan Of Monarchy In General, But I Have To Say The Danish Monarchy Is Closer To The People; It's Not As Stuffy As The English One.

The Best Thing An Actor Can Be Is Flexible, Because All Directors Are Different And All Actors Are Different.

When There Is Conflict, It's Good To Step Away, Even For Five Minutes, Because You Could Say Terrible Things That You Can't Take Back, So It's Best To Walk Away.

I'm An Optimist; I Always Hope That Each New Script Is Going To Be A Great Story.

At The End Of The 19th Century And The First Half Of The 20th Century In Austria, There Was A Lot Of Anti-semitism. Anti-semitism In Austria Was Much More Pervasive Than In Germany. And Austrians Took To Nazi Ideas And Anti-semitism Much More Readily Than Germans Did, Really.

There's No Sense In Doing Something, Especially If It's A Hard Job, If You Can't Have A Little Fun.

I Have Never Been In A Natural Place And Felt That It Was A Waste Of Time. I Never Have. And It's A Relief. If I'm Walking Around A Desert Or Whatever, Every Second Is Worthwhile.

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Nobody Really Knows Anybody Completely, Even If They've Been Married To 'em For 53 Years, You Know?

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I Realise How Important It Is To Use The Time I Have. I Respect People Who Want To Do That By Watching Television. I Happen To Want To Read Books. But I Know I Can't Read All The Books Or Watch All The Movies In One Lifetime.

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I Campaigned For [dennis] Kucinich In 2008. I Continue To Be In Touch With Him And I Really Admire Him. I Think He's Very Brave And Honest - Unusually So For A U.s. Politician.

If You Daren't Enter The Forest, Or Cannot Find It, Then Perhaps You Might Find One Tree, Or A Place Where A Tree Could Be, And Just Stop For A Quiet Moment To See What Happens.

Because Of The Internet, Satellite Tv, And The Digital World, You Can Stay In Touch, You Can Learn About Other People From A Young Age.

The Holocaust Movie Is Almost A Genre In Itself These Days.

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Bernie Sanders Has Inspired Millions Of People In This Country.

Awards For Arts, Where You Make Comparisons, Don't Make Much Sense.

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The Efforts Of Black Lives Matter To Bring Attention To The All-too-frequent Instances Of Unjustified Violence Being Used By Policemen May Not Be Paying Off As Quickly As Some Might Hope.

You Know, Real Life Doesn't Just Suddenly Resolve Itself. You Have To Keep Working At It. Democracy, Marriage, Friendship. You Can't Just Say She's My Best Friend. That's Not A Given, It's A Process.

Adult Characters Are All The Things They've Encountered Over Time. But Kids Haven't Accumulated All The Life Experience, All The Regrets. They Tend To Be More In The Moment, More Willing To Play, To Be Joyful.

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Sometimes You Look At A Movie And You Can See That The Actor Or Actress Said, 'i'm Taking This Onboard Because I'm Making A Ton Of Money, And Not Because It's Going To Be Something Special.'

Captain Fantastic Touches On That [division]. You Meet This Family That Lives Off The Grid In The Woods And You Go, "oh, It's Some Kind Of Liberal Utopian Fantasy. The Enemy Is Gonna Be All These Conservative Types That They'll Probably Run Into, And That's Going To Be The Story."

I Have A Publishing Company Of Books By Me And Books Of Others. It Drew People To Poetry Readings And Photo Exhibitions And Painting Exhibitions That I've Been Doing For Years Before That.

I Don't Like People Who Get Into Fights About Football - Or Anything Else.

Sometimes A Scene Works And Acting Is The Easiest Thing In The World And You Don't Have To Do Much Of Anything - Just Enjoy Yourself And Listen To The Other Actor. When It Doesn't Work, Then Every Actor Has Different Ways Of Dealing With The Impasse. Sometimes You Use Memories From The Past. Whatever. It Depends From Job To Job.

I Take My Work Seriously, But It's Not The Only Thing That Exists In The World.

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When I Heard Puerto Ricans In New York City, It Sounded Very Strange. And The First Time I Heard Someone From Spain, I Thought They Had A Speech Impediment!

Each Time I Make A Movie, It's Like A Paid Scholarship To A Different University Course.

When We Shot 'the Lord Of The Rings,' We Had Special Permission To Film In Wild Areas Of New Zealand That Could Be Accessed Only By Helicopter. They Would Drop Us Off And We Would Work All Day, And They'd Pick Us Up And Take Us Out Again.

I Don't Think Adam Sandler Or Will Ferrell Fear Competition From Me In Their Arena.

I Try To Avoid Conflict. I Don't Want People To Be Unhappy.

I'm Not That Involved In Personal Grooming. But I Try Not To Be Offensive To People.

With Any Character I Have Played There’s Infinite Possibilities For How They Might Behave, Depending On Who They Are Talking To Or How They React To Things.

I Like Stories That Leave You Wanting More, Leave You Wondering, But Don't Tell You Everything.

Toronto Film Festival Is One Of Those Festivals Where There Are 400 Movies, And Unless You Have A Distributor Who Is Super Confident And Puts A Lot Of Money Into It, Sometimes Movies Can Go Unwatched Or Unnoticed.

My Goal Is Just To Make Movies, Whether They're Big Or Small, That I'd Like To See 10 Years From Now.

Pinochet And Barack Obama Both Have The Same Primary Goal, And That's To Be President And Stay President As Long As Allowed.

It's Very Rare You Get A Great Script Just Handed To You, Or Sent To You, By Someone You Don't Know.

It's Always Interesting To Play A Character That Obviously Has A Secret.

I Think If You Don't Say Something It's Lying By Omission. I Personally Think It's Immoral.

I Don't Like The 'must', The 'always', And The 'never' Words. I Don't Like 'no' Either.

As A Kid I Read Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, And A Few Others. As An Adult Have Admired Leonardo Da Vinci's Drawings And Notebooks.

That Is To Say, Hillary Clinton Is Not, In My Mind, A Satisfying Or Calming Alternative To Donald Trump.

The Only Thing That I Always Do - Is Once I've Taken On A Job, Even Just To Do One Scene In A Movie, I Ask Myself, "what's Happened The Moment The Kid Was Born, Until Page One Of The Script?" To Answer That Simple Question, I Have An Infinite Amount Of Work To Do. And I Enjoy That Part As Much As I Enjoy Any Part Of Making Movies.

I Have A Work Ethic. If I Say I'm Going To Do Something, I Do It.

I've Never Been Conscious Of Having Any Real Career Plan, And I Do Not Have A Wish-list Of Actors, Directors, Screenwriters, Or Cameramen I'm Hoping To Work With. Life, I Feel, Has A Way Of Leading Us To The Right Situations And People, Or At Least To Interesting Ones.

The First Decade Of Your Life Is Really Important; It's Formative.

As Far As Money Goes, There's A Saying In Denmark: 'your Last Suit Doesn't Have Any Pockets.' You Can't Take It With You. You Can Make All The Money You Want, But Who Cares?

Photography, Painting Or Poetry - Those Are Just Extensions Of Me, How I Perceive Things; They Are My Way Of Communicating.

When I Have A Day Off, I Won't Spend It At A Hollywood Party. I'd Rather Be At Home With Paints And A Blank Canvas.

It's Just Like With People. You're Going To Get Along Better Working With Them - Human Or Equine - If You Ask Politely Rather Than Demand That They Do Things.

America Is An Empire In Decay. But We Don't Have To Lash Out And Do Damage On The Way Down. We Can Reverse Some Of The Damage We've Done. It's Possible.

I Have A Roof Over My Head. I Had A Breakfast, And A Lot Of People In The World Can't Say That. I'm Not Going To Complain About Being Interviewed.

Travel Is One Of The Best Anti-war Weapons That There Are. I've Been To Iran, And If You're There You See Little Kids, Cops, Old People, Cemeteries. Once You See That, You Can't Say, 'oh, Iran, Let's Bomb Them.'

Usually The Characters I Play Are Men Of Few Words, Who Communicate In Non-verbal Ways.

I Have A Multicultural Background, So I Tend To Have An Open Mind About Things, And I Find Other Cultures Interesting.

You Have A Moral Obligation To Finish The Job You Said You Would Do.

I Now Realize That I Was Very Fortunate To Have Grown Up In Many Different Places, Surrounded By All Kinds Of People, All Kinds Of Points Of View.

I Mean, Any Movie Or Story That Makes You Accept And Be Grateful For Something About Your Life Is Doing Something Right.

People Are Becoming More Intimately Acquainted With People Who Are Different Than Them - It's Not So Unusual Anymore.

In A Lot Of Ways, I Envy Someone Like Omar Sharif Who Lived In A Hotel For Decades.

In A Movie, You're Raw Material, Just A Hue Of Some Color And The Director Makes The Painting.

Life Is Short And The Older You Get, The More You Feel It. Indeed, The Shorter It Is.

I Was Raised Speaking English And Spanish. And I Also Speak Danish. And I Can Get By In French And Italian. I've Acted In Spanish And English, But When Something Has To Do With Emotions, Sometimes I Feel I Can Get To The Heart Of The Matter Better In Spanish.

I Look At My Job As Looking At The World From Points Of View That Are Different From Mine - Sometimes Radically Different From Mine.

Anyone Can Identify With Those Moments In Life Where Circumstances Or People Inform Us That We've Strayed From The Path Of Our Better Nature And Intentions. We Know What That's Like, And We Resist It - So As Not To Feel Like We're Bad People.

I Like The Detail Work Of Telling A Story In Small Pieces, As Is Done In Movie-making, And Also The Long Leap Of Faith Needed To See A Theatre Performance Through Each Night. Both Require Focus And Self-discipline.

Every Once In A While, Someone Would Call Me A Foreigner Or A Yankee, Or Whatever. In The United States, Someone Might Say Something, Like How Kids Do, To Point Out That You're Different. That Would Come As A Surprise To Me. As You Get Old, You Either Get Defensive About It Or You Accept It And You Reach Out, Because You Realize The World's Full Of People Like That.

I Have No Idea What 'method Actor' Means.

If I Can Get A Day To Myself, I Won't Answer The Phone, I'll Read Or Go For A Walk. Simple, Basic Things. People Think There's Always Time To Do That But There Isn't. Life Is Short.

Saying You Are A Patriot Does Not Make You One; Wearing A Flag Pin Does Not In Itself Mean Anything At All.

To Find A Good Story, You’re Generally Going To Find It In Independent Or Lower Budget Movies... I Wouldn’t Mind Doing A Big Budget Movie If It Had A Great Story.

I Don't Have A Blackberry Or Whatever You Call It. And There Is Something To Be Said For Being Isolated And Out Of Phone Range, Because You Can Fall Into A Habit To Such A Degree That You Don't Even Realise That You've Lost Something: Silence.

I Met Cindy [sheehan] Near Crawford, Texas. I Went Out To Personally Thank Her For Waiting Patiently By The Road In Front Of George And Laura Bush's Ranch For An Answer From Her President As To Why And For What Her Son And Others Had Been Sacrificed In The Unlawful Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq.

Most Actors Can't Make Any Kind Of Living.

One Of The Most Effective Tools That The Cheney-bush Junta Has Used To Marginalize Dissenting Or Even Mildly Inquisitive American Citizens Has Been The Accusation Of Being Unpatriotic.

For 'hidalgo,' I Just Spent As Much Time Around Horses As I Could, Which Made Sense.

I've Been Lucky To Learn By Playing All Kinds Of Roles And Watching All Kinds Of Really Good Cinematographers, Actors, And Directors For Many Years Before People Were Even Aware Of Me In Terms Of Audience.

Joseph Campbell Said The Privilege Of A Lifetime Is Being Yourself. That's His Feeling. And I Guess It's Mine Too.

You Know, 'viggo' Is A Pretty Dorky Name In Denmark. It's Like 'oswald' Or Something. It's A Very Old Scandinavian Name, At Least 1,000 Years Old.

I Like Movies That Leave You With Something To Think About, To Discuss, To Debate, You Know?

As Aragorn Said At Helm's Deep, "there Is Always Hope."

Freud Was The Son Of A Jewish Merchant Who Had To Move His Whole Family To Vienna Because He Couldn't Get Work. He, As A Boy, Had To Watch His Father Be Mocked And Abused On The Street For Being Jewish... You Develop A Thick Skin And You Develop A Certain Kind Of Wit To Defend Yourself.

I Think That Every Person Has Many, Many People Inside Of Them. We Change Our Personality Depending On Who We Are Talking To Or What Situation We Are In.

I Would Literally Climb Out Of The Cradle While My Parents Slept, Go And Crawl Off. I Did This A Couple Of Times Apparently. I'd Cross The Road And Into Someone's House, Wake Them Up Banging Pots And Pans In The Kitchen.

There Might Be People Out There Who Wouldn't Hire Me Because They Thought I Should Keep My Mouth Shut, But I'm Not Aware Of That. Even If I Saw Evidence Of That, It Wouldn't Really Concern Me.

I'm Certainly Curious About People. As A Kid, I Moved Around A Lot. I Was Raised In A Lot Of Different Places, And Thanks To Working In The Movies, I've Gotten To Keep Traveling. I've Always Been Interested In Other Cultures And Languages.

To Strive For Something Better - At Least There's A Chance.

Something Better

If You're Trying To Please Everyone, Then You're Not Going To Make Anything That Is Honestly Yours, I Don't Think, In The Long Run.

Yes, I Would Agree That America, Just Like Spain Was In The 17th Century, Is The Main Empire Of The World And They Are The Ones Who, On The Surface, Are The Most Pushy: Pushing Their Language, Pushing Their Culture - Or What There Is Of It - Pushing By Force Their System On Others.

People Talk About Method Actors, Meaning Someone That's Prepared Very, Very Well, Or Whatever They Mean When They Talk About It. But The Right Method Is Whatever Works For You. And What Works For Me On Any Given Day Is Going To Be Different.

To Be Honest, I Don't Really Care About Any Pope. It's Not Something I Think About Much, To Be Quite Honest With You.

In The End, The Actor's Main Power Is The Power To Say, 'no.'

Any Nominations A Movie Gets Helps To Raise The Level Of Curiosity In The Public, So In That Sense Awards And Nominations Are Important.

More Often Than Not, The Experience Of Shooting The Movie Has Been Disappointing And The End Product Has Been A Mere Shadow Of What I Hoped It Would Be. But Immersing Myself In The Story - That's What I Like Best Of All.

I Have To Say That I Think Bernie Sanders Is The First Politician Since Dennis Kucinich That I've Been Truly Inspired By. Where You Actually Are Truly Speaking Truth To Power, In A Legitimate Way And In An Unpretentious And Very Straightforward Way.

If There's One Thing I've Learned From Traveling, It's That It Is Definitely More Important How You Are Than Where You Are. You Can Say, 'oh, I Hate X City, I Hate That Country, Or I Prefer This City,' But It's A Little Bit Up To You To Find Some Kind Of Happiness.

I've Been Naked Physically In Movies - But It's A Whole Other Thing To Be Naked Emotionally In A Way That's Not Just A Distraction Or A Character.

A Lot Of People Can Forget About You In Los Angeles.

I Think That People Who Get To A Certain Position, And Then Try To Ferociously Defend It Or Build On It, It's Kind Of A Dead-end Street. You See People Becoming Miserable That Way.

Like Most People - Unless They're Very Practised At It Or Have No Warm Blood At All In Their Veins - I Feel A Little Apprehensive About The Red Carpet. It's Always A Bit Bewildering When People Are Taking Pictures And Asking Questions Before The Ceremony.

Asking Questions

I Want To See What The Green Party Looks Like. I Think If People Don't Start Voting What They Feel, If That's Something Other Than The Democratic Party Or The Republican Party, Then Nothing's Going To Change. You Need More Political Parties That Actually Have A Chance.

People Like To Pigeonhole You. It's Easier.

I Really Enjoyed Working With New Zealanders As Crew Members, As Teammates. They're Great, And It's A Beautiful Country. It's One Of The Most Beautiful Places I've Ever Been, And I've Traveled Quite A Bit.

In 2016 We Are Faced With A Particularly Bizarre And Unappetizing Choice As Regards The Two Main Political Parties' Presidential Candidates, In My Opinion.

In A Lot Of Places In The United States And Certainly Even More Places Around The World, The Image Of The Cowboy Has Become, For Some People, A Negative One. The Word 'cowboy' Implies A Strong, Stubborn Individual Whose Individualism Depends On Pulling Down Other People's Individualism.

It Doesn't Take That Many Years For A Kid To Realise That They're Going To Die. It's Always There In The Back Of Their Mind The Rest Of Their Lives.

I Was Raised In Argentina Until I Was 11 And Now I Go Back There A Lot, At Least Twice A Year. It's A Country Where I Feel Very Comfortable And It Represents An Important Period In My Life.

Even The Implication That The Lord Of The Rings Is A Mythic Story About Western, White Supremacy - Regardless Of The Political Leanings Of Anyone Who Tries To Make That Case - Is A Load Of Self-justifying, Destructive Horseshit.

As Regards Hillary C;inton's Foreign Policy Actions And The Powerful Vested Interests She Seems Gleefully Beholden To, Including All The Biggest Players In The Military-industrial Complex, I Feel That She Would Be No Better An Actor On The World Stage Than Trump And Whatever Coalition Of Managers He Might Cobble Together.

When People Say That Entertainers Should "know Your Place," They Might As Well Say The Same Thing About Plumbers And Teachers And Cab Drivers. We All Should Be Able To Express Our Views.

I'm Not Afraid Of Death, But I Resent It. I Think It's Unfair And Irritating.

I Love Rehearsing, But A Lot Of Directors Don't, And Some Actors Don't.

A Lot Of Times, Movies That Are In The Top 10 Lists Or Maybe Even Win Baftas Or Oscars, You Then Watch Them A Year Later And You Go, 'maybe It Wasn't So Great.'

You Don't Have To Make Something That People Call Art. Living Is An Artistic Activity, There Is An Art To Getting Through The Day.

I Trust Hillary Clinton About As Far As I Could Throw Donald Trump.

Having A Mixed Background And Feeling A Little Bit Like A Fish Out Of Water In Most Places Can Be A Benefit.

I Like Naturally Occurring Film Grain, And What Happens To Film When It's Under- And Over-exposed.

It's Almost A Standard Tactic, Really, To Try To Minimize Any Effort That People In The Entertainment Business Or In Any Public Occupation Make To Express Themselves.

I Think We're On The Wrong Path In This Country And Have Been For A While. People Are In Their Camps Divided By Region, Economic Situation, Race, Religion, Ideology. And There's A Lot Of Just Staying In Your Camp Using Technology To Bolster Your Case Without Actually Debating With Other People, Without Discussing.

We Often Live In The Past A Lot More Than We Probably Realize.

I Hate Divers, Like Cristiano Ronaldo, Who Might Be The Greatest Athlete In The Sport, But He's A Big Baby. If Things Are Going Well He's Great, But When Things Are Going Badly It's The Ref's Fault, It's His Teammates' Fault.

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I Think You Have To Be Flexible Above All As An Actor; Different Characters Have Different Demands, Actors That You Work With Are Different In Their Approach, Or How You Get Along Or Don't Get Along With Them.

You Know, Freud Accepted His Lot Very Stoically And Very Well And With A Sense Of Humor. He Aged And Died Gracefully, And There's A Lot To Be Said For That.

I Know People Who Prepare Their Roles In Such A Way That They Technically Look Ahead And Memorize Their Gestures, And Then They Stick To It. Those That Are Technically Proficient Enough Can Make It Seem Natural, But They Do That And Don't Really Take In What Other People Are Doing.

Kids Accept Where They Are Because They Don't Know The Past. They Know What They Have; They Know Where They Are.

I Like A Twisted Sense Of Humour. On 'a History Of Violence,' David Cronenberg And I Would Be Doing The Grimmest Scenes And Laugh A Lot.

You Know, Real Life Doesn't Just Suddenly Resolve Itself. You Have To Keep Working At It.

When You're Under Stress As A Human Being, You Behave Oddly And Your Relationships With People Become Strained.

I Suppose A Good Director Is Like A Teacher. I Think That Someone Like David Cronenberg Was Very Much Like A Teacher, Because There's An Openness, But A Certain Set Of Rules Of Behavior, And A Certain Conduct Expected. But There's An Atmosphere That's Relaxed And Conducive To Exploration, And That Is Created By Someone Like Cronenberg.

The Road Was A Movie That Has A Good Reputation, Even Though It Wasn't Released Very Well, But That's A Movie I'm Very Proud Of.

What Art Does Is It Makes You Feel Alive And Makes You Feel Like You're Connected.

We All Experience Many Freakish And Unexpected Events - You Have To Be Open To Suffering A Little. The Philosopher Schopenhauer Talked About How Out Of The Randomness, There Is An Apparent Intention In The Fate Of An Individual That Can Be Glimpsed Later On. When You Are An Old Guy, You Can Look Back, And Maybe This Rambling Life Has Some Through-line. Others Can See It Better Sometimes. But When You Glimpse It Yourself, You See It More Clearly Than Anyone.

In December Of 2002, The Late Richard Corliss, A Respected Movie Critic With A Long And Illustrious Career, Wrote An Embarrassing Letter Of Support For The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq And Afghanistan In The Guise Of A Time Magazine Review Of Peter Jackson's The Two Towers.

I'm Sort Of Contrary And Stubborn Sometimes. When Everybody Says, 'you Have To Read This Book! You Have To Read This Book!' I'm Like 'oh, I'll Get Around To It.'

Most Movies Are Lucky To Have One Moment, One Shot That You Look At And You Always Remember That Moment And That Scene.

As You Get Older, You Get Stuck In Your Ways; Just As You Become Stiffer Physically, You Also Become Stiffer Mentally And More Narrow-minded Unless You Make A Conscious Effort To Keep Yourself Flexible.

I Prefer The Smaller Acting Than Big Histrionics. It's About Reacting And Looks, Which Is Often Underestimated.

Being An Actor, Imitating To The Point Of Inhabiting The Lives Of Others, May Simply Be A Way Of Continuing To Do What I Learned To Do As A Boy - To Travel, Mentally And Physically.

On A Practical Level, Poetry Isn't Something Anybody Has Really Made A Great Living At. I Might Sell Some Books And, Once In A While, Someone Might Pay To Hear Me Read.

In Terms Of The Movie Business, Being In A 'lord Of The Rings' Has Given Me More Interesting Options As Work.

Some Actors Learn The Habit Of Promoting Themselves As A Brand - By Dressing In A Certain Way, By Going Out With A Certain Person - It Gives Them What They Obviously Want, Which Is To Keep A Level Of Fame. I'm Not Putting It Down.

I Know I Said I Wanted To Live Forever And I Would Never Be Bored, But The Reality Is, It's Probably Kind Of Sad To Live Forever If You're The Only One Sticking Around.

To Be An Artist, You Don't Have To Compose Music Or Paint Or Be In The Movies Or Write Books. It's Just A Way Of Living. It Has To Do With Paying Attention, Remembering, Filtering What You See And Answering Back, Participating In Life.

I Don't Think You Get To Be Pope Without Making Some Enemies, Like You Do When You're President.

When I Land In A Country And They Ask For 'occupation,' I Always Just Put 'artist.' I Think That Covers All Of It.

Some People Who Like Dogs Don't Like Cats, But I'm Not Like That.

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