In the end, the films you don't do, the money you turn down... defines your tastes.


I was a teen star. That's disgusting enough.


(on being a celebrity) I have a healthy fear of it. I'm not into the celebrity culture aspect of being an artist. To me it represents extinction. The more people know about you, the less they want to try to figure out what you have to say in your movies, and the less credibility you have. To me it seems: Go do your thing, then get out. That's the best way to do it.


Nope, no sex scandals yet. But I am open to offers!


There are some good people. But a good chunk of them will lie for no reason at all - it'll be ten o'clock and they'll tell you it's nine. You're looking at the clock and you can't even fathom why they're lying. They just lie because that's what they do.


Celebrity is death -- celebrity -- that's the worst thing that can happen to an actor.


I don't want to be involved in anything that's jingoistic or sensationalistic...People in Hollywood don't think about the moral ramifications of what they do. They're trying to make a buck, and they continually whitewash history. A movie like Top Gun drives up army enlistments because people think they're going to get to fly jets and meet Kelly McGillis, when in reality, they're going to be chipping paint off an aircraft carrier.


Lloyd Dobler was simply the best part of who I could ever be.


I feel very blessed, very fortunate, very happy. I love my work, I love my friends, I love my family. There was a period when I didn't work for about two years when I was about 25, 26, and I couldn't imagine what I would do with my life and that was scary. But now I have other things I love. I'm a pretty good kick boxer; I'm a pretty good writer; there are things I could fall back on. And you know how it is - the minute you realize that your options are unlimited, things just start falling into place all around you.


I'd say there's maybe two or three filmmakers alive right now who have the level of control over their work that Clint (Eastwood) does. There's Clint, Woody Allen, and Stanley Kubrick.


What's your angle? You must have an angle. Don't lie. All reporters come with an angle, and then they fish until they find the thing that reinforces their theories.


I was never popular in school. Then I started making movies, and I became this Gatsby figure. It was weird. I was a bullshit white suburban punk. All I wanted to do was skip school, and then I'm getting paid to skip school and be on the set with Jacqueline Bisset. I was living the dream.


I used to think there were certain things that you do that were technique, but as I get older, they seem more like superstition, like a ball player crossing himself when he gets to the plate. Now I let things happen. It's scary, but you need to experiment, you need to have the guts to let go of old habits, to keep growing.


I like smoking. I don't love smoking. I'm NOT addicted.


My mother made this pineapple-ham-tuna-mayo thing I called 'Catholic goulash.' I'm astounded that my love for her remains strong.


People equate emotion with being alive, and the most convenient emotion is pain. Some people need drama in their relationships. I don't want it for ten minutes.