BOYD HOLBROOK

I wanted to be an architect. I used to draw houses and buildings and construct buildings on my own.

There are all kinds of directors I want to work with and all kinds of films that I want to do.

There was no theater in my high school. I think even our art program was cut - it was so bad. I didn't even know that was a possibility in college or in high school; I hadn't even thought of it. It was pretty negligent. My father has run a bulldozer all of his life, and my mom is in real estate.

I unloaded planes for UPS in Louisville, Kentucky. It only was bad because it was called 'Earn to Learn,' where you pay for your tuition for college, but you have to work graveyard shift - midnight to eight A.M. - and then go to school at nine or 10 A.M. I was a zombie after two semesters.

I sort of tried to get a basketball scholarship out of high school, but that didn't happen. Then I started working for UPS, and that paid for tuition for school. I moved to a bigger town, Louisville. I did it for a year. I had to work the graveyard shift. And then you get off at eight for classes, so that sucked. Then I dropped out.

I wrote a lot. I was in programs for drawing when I was a kid.

I'm country to the bone.

Sean Penn, for his acting as well as his writing and directing. There are so many actors I respect, but his reach is so wide.

When I got into high school, I got really into basketball. I had this itch that I wanted to just move. I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew that if basketball became a scholarship or something, it would be a means to that. It turned out I couldn't jump that high.

Most difficult is the labeling by other people that models are empty-headed bodies. I think if you look for negativity, you can find it anywhere.

I was working in Lexington when I recognized this actor, Michael Shannon, and I was like, 'What do you do?' He told me to get into a theater company, so I got into a theater company near my hometown. I was a carpenter there. And then I slowly got some work.

I spent three months with a physical therapist understanding what a stroke is. I asked, 'What is a stroke?' I didn't really know. It's okay to mimic something, but I really needed to understand the signs.

For an actor, to go to work every day is a really rare occurrence. You may work on a film for three months max, and then you're off, so you have to find another job and then work another three months.

I collect hats, and I'm really big into Stetsons. Not particularly the Stetsons brand but that sort of fedora-type. I just think it's sharp.

It's so funny how it's impossible for an American actor to play an English part or an Australian part. But by all means, come and bastardize our accent as much as you want.

I think Jack White is pretty dope. He's a little bit more crisp than me in his approach; he's always in a suit; he's always sharp. He's always cleaned up.

For an actor to go to work every day is an extreme blessing.

I've never read a comic book in my life.

I actually moved to upstate New York to the country.

Skinny jeans and an extra big t-shirt. Ugh, I cannot stand that. It looks like an idiot: it's just proportionately wrong. And the super, super, super, super, super, super, super skinny jeans. I don't think you can get anything done when you're wearing clothes that tight.

I think Ray Liotta in 'Goodfellas' is the best ever. Given that it was two hours, it was a little bit more theatrical, and I mean that in the most positive way.

I'd seen Jose Padilha's 'Elite Squad 1' and '2', and I'd seen his documentary, 'Bus 174'.

I think, in any sort of medium, repetition makes you better at your trade.

I always like to work with really good filmmakers and really good actors.

I'm not ever going to be dependent on someone else for a job.