JOEL EDGERTON

Where does guilt and punishment lie, and are we not more expressive over remorse or guilt when other people see the badness in us?

I have this theory that alpha males are actually not alpha males. They're actually very scared - particularly scared of competition from a lot of men.

I did have someone tell me that I looked like Conan O'Brien. I was like, 'What?'

It's tricky. I've never been standing at the top of the tree with tons of money thrown at me. I've never really had a profile. So in a way I have this 'nothing to lose' attitude.

Some of us are better at owning the responsibility of our actions than others.

I grew up being taught, 'Do unto others as they would do unto you.' I would get scolded for not being polite.

The biggest difference for me is momentum. On a smaller film you get to shoot sometimes four or five scenes a day and you've got to do the tight schedule. I think I really feel the luxuries of a big budget film.

Really, no-one is bad except for serial killers and dictators.

Making a movie like 'Felony' is hard work because you're really putting your own ideas on the screen. You can't hide behind some other person's script; you're saying, 'This is my brain, and I want you to know what I think'.'

The sum total of all my stop-starts have made me less concerned about the future. I'm just aware now that I'll always land on my feet somehow.

I can't sing or dance.

To me, Hollywood seems a little bipolar. Things happen; things don't happen. Someone's in a movie; someone's not in a movie. I've learned not to build my expectations.

Pittsburgh felt like the perfect size of a city to me. There's enough to do, but it's not like living in a circus. I also really loved how sports-enthusiastic Pittsburgh people are: how proud of their sports they are.

It's funny how sometimes you learn things off the Internet before they're actually told to you.

The only way for you to show what you can do is to actually do.

There's the pressure of being a No. 1 on the call sheet, being a lead actor. There's almost this feeling like being captain of the team. You want to put a bit of energy into actually setting a good example.

As an actor, I'm constantly striving to find the darkness in the lighter characters and the lightness in the darker characters.

I'm not going to allow myself to second-guess projects. I'm just going to do the ones that I fully love and believe in - that's a real privilege.

There's a stage where you're desperate to get a job, and you're waving your hands in a sea of nothingness, going, 'Please, please, please! I'm over here - give me a job!'

I spent a lot of time outdoors as a kid.

I always kept myself fairly fit.

If I knew my schedule a month ahead, I'd be so bored.

If I'm going to work for twelve hours a day, I want twelve hours of awesomeness!

Gene Hackman was a superstar in the '70s - with that face!

There's never been a mathematical equation that says a good experience making a movie equates to a good movie, or a bad experience on a set is going to lead to a bad movie.