I was never interested in being a rock star. I always wanted to be Boris Karloff.
I grew up watching Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, Robert de Niro, and Al Pacino and even Robert Duvall and was impressed by their caliber of work.
When I came up, guys like Nicholson and DeNiro were held in highest regard.
It was surreal to play opposite Angela Lansbury and Elaine Stritch, Bernadette Peters and Catherine Zeta-Jones. There was so much to learn just from watching them, and it was an honor to share the stage with women who have accomplished what they have.
My biggest influences as an actor were Marlon Brando, and I really dug James Dean.
When I grew into a teenager, I became obsessed with Marlon Brando, Montgomery Cliff, and James Dean.
Working with Robin Williams, and Bob Hopkins, and Dustin Hoffman and you're talking about 'gods,' really, in our industry. You look at legends everyday. It was so impactful to me as a young artist.
I wasn't a babe in the woods. I'd watched a lot of stars, from James Dean to Brando, and I'd seen everybody alive work at MGM. I had a certain old-timer's quality, even though I was young and new, and drew on what I believed before I made it.
Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Penn to me are the two best actors of all time. I'm just glad to have the pleasure to be in an era that they're acting while I'm acting. They're probably the best actors in my mind.
Growing up, I loved films like 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and 'On the Waterfront' and became a huge fan of Marlon Brando.
Brando's one of the greats; what can you say?
For me as a Welsh actor, Richard Burton is one of my biggest idols. And I've got so many: Peter O'Toole, Laurence Olivier and Oliver Reed. If they got 'Hunky Dory' and 'Citadel' offered to them, they would do completely different jobs on both of them.
God, I love John Cassavetes. Throughout my acting career and continuing to be an actor and grow, I think there have been so many outstanding actresses, and I hope I can live up to the things they created and continue that on. I think Gina Rowlands is an amazing actress.
It was just the thrill of a lifetime. Brando and Hackman were two of my heroes.
