I can't give you 150 takes. I can't even give you 30 different ways of doing it! I don't have the talent or the range for it.
I don't have a preferred medium of work, but like all actors, I do like to move from one to the other if possible.
I can go from doing an electronic track to hip-hop to even folk songs. I think people like that variety in me.
'Take Me Apart' doesn't feel cohesive in a singular way but in a varied way. You can fixate on individual songs, and there are references from all over the place: Anita Baker to Bjork. I wanted to show all the facets of myself.
You don't do characters that are the same as you, otherwise why bother to act?
Different films, different genres show the different things I do. It's nice because it brings different groups of people to following what I'm doing. So hopefully, it kind of reiterates that I'm not just a one-trick pony as well.
I tend to watch things that aren't really the genre of my own work.
With music, I get to a much darker place. Where I'm able to go with 'Portlandia' has a wider range, but also a brighter range.
I've been really fortunate to be able to do different kinds of films in different scales, different genres, different kinds of roles, and that is important to me.
I don't see money or a particular status as an actor as a goal, but I want to do the best work I can in as interesting a range of roles as I can.
I want people to know about all the kinds of music that I write. Some believe I just write film scores, which is not true.
It's very important to not repeat yourself. After 'Delhi Belly,' I was offered 40 'Delhi Belly's and you can't do that! So 'Revolver Rani' is dark and gritty with action, 'Sooper Se Oopar' is a big commercial love story, 'Santa Banta' is a 'theth' Punjabi comedy, 'Golu Aur Pappu' is a kids' film and 'Amit Sahni Ki List' is an urban romcom.
Half the people tell me, 'I love 'Go All the Way,' but why do you have to write all those schlocky ballads.' And half say, 'I love 'All By Myself,' but why do you waste your time with this rock 'n' roll stuff?' I'd like to think that I could do both.
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.
The film I do doesn't have to be a film that only my kids can watch. My kids will watch films, but I will decide what they watch and not. My aim is to play different characters and not be stuck in a mould. Just because you are a mom and a wife doesn't meant you have to play those roles, even in films.
Eventually, this is how I would like to be remembered at the end of my career: He was never the best in anything he did - comedy, acting, filmmaking, writing, etc. But nobody was better at doing different things at the same time than he was.
I just love variety. I love being able to do different things. Do period pieces and sci-fi. I love being able to move between genres and be flexible.
I really love being a weirdo who writes a lot of different things for a lot of different ages. I have been considering doing a guide on my website so that a reader who liked one of my books could find the other books that he or she might like, because I know some of the books are really different from the rest.
Different genres allow me to not feel so hemmed in by my own voice, tics, style.
I try not to limit myself. The actors that inspire me are the comedians and the people able to shape-shift into different roles and into different media. That ensures your longevity as an artist and prevents you from getting bored with yourself and, hopefully, prevents people from getting bored with you.
The thing that is so great about Ang Lee is the diversity in his filmmaking, from 'Brokeback...' to 'The Hulk.'
'Deadwood' was just a wonderful opportunity for me. Outside of my own things that I've written, I hadn't had the opportunity to play a character with that amount of depth and range.
To me, a good storyteller should be able to tell stories across genres.
In the 30 years of my career, I have explored all possible mediums, except radio.
At one level you're condemned to the voice you have. But within those confines, you have a certain amount of freedom to range among your possible voices.
