When I work in a film like an actor, I do not interfere or try to use my seniority or impose anything on the filmmaker.
In terms of watching other directors, it's more like I go on set now, and I'm prepared, as an actor, and ready to give them everything, but at the same time, you observe how everybody else does it because there's always something to learn.
We've had no problems with the actors, but we keep a really loose set.
Hopefully, I'm not stealing scenes from other actors, because then they won't want to work with me.
I learned the process of this kind of acting, how things run, how chaotic it can be, and what kind of different muscles you have to flex.
I think that when I'm an actor, I get hired, and you say jump three inches, I'll jump three inches. I just kind of trust what the writer's vision is.
When somebody says, 'Action,' I act. When they say, 'Cut,' that's my job. I've done it.
In Hollywood, you've got a hundred people on set, and shooting the sex scene you're wearing nude-toned underwear and tape on your nipples. Nothing is going beyond where you want it to go.
On some sets, if a helicopter goes by, what would normally happen is that somebody would go, 'There's a helicopter. Stop.' I'd never stop for a helicopter. I am always trying to make sure that the machine is in service to the actors.
Any time you're in front of a camera and have them yell 'Cut, re-shoot the scene,' are you kidding me? That's a huge advantage.
I often say television is not a job for grown men. You go to a set, they pick out your clothes for you, they tell you where to stand, what to say, and your chair has your name on it in case you can't find a place to sit.
A scene, a day of shooting, can often make you feel kind of stupid and inept because your one job is to anticipate and react and know what to go for.
'CSI' was an amazing experience, which, looking back, I was very lucky to get. They shoot an entire episode in eight days, so everything has to be totally slick and professional.
The first thing I learned about weapons is respect, and that carries into movies as well. If you're on set and you're dealing with weapons, live or not, you respect the weapon; you know how to handle it appropriately.
An actor has to do everything, all genres of films.
I've never got a part in the same way twice. I've never prepared the same way. I've never experienced the filming the process the same way.
Actors generally get to do things you probably shouldn't do in real life - well, at least as much as one might like to or be tempted to. Though I suppose a lot of actors just go ahead and do it, don't they?
I've grown up on set, so I understand a lot of things that a new actor wouldn't, whether it's etiquette or how things work on a technical level.
I have been parts of some films in the South where I didn't expect certain shots to be shot in a certain way. I wasn't experienced enough; I was very naive. I didn't have the standing of an actor to say that I don't want to do this shot.
When you're working on a huge, elaborate set that took months to create, and you're surrounded by hundreds of extras, you better remember your lines and know what you're doing in a scene!
And film acting is incredibly tedious, just by its nature. It's incredibly, mind numbingly slow.
Acting is completely different from the standup world. You have these 12- or 14-hour days, but you have a great time doing it. It's like hanging out with your friends.
I learned not to blink in a close-up or move your head at all, because if you did, they wouldn't use it.
As a television actor, I was held to a tight, rigid structure.
As a young actor, it's important to see how the greatest in the industry work... diva behavior is never it.
