On why he chose Machine Gun Preacher as his latest project: “I think what made me want to walk around in his shoes was just the man himself. What he’s achieved is so mind-blowing, so unbelievable - this person who just kind of takes on the world, decides to go into Sudan and build an orphanage in the middle of the civil war. He’s definitely not a Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, squeaky-clean hero, so it just felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
On being famous: “It’s almost like being successful makes certain people feel like they have the right to be completely invasive and aggressive in your life. That’s what really bothers me. I can’t often go to Starbucks without literally having five different cameras pointing at me. You smile and wave, but really you think, I don’t even want to do this anymore. I just want to go."
"I love what I do but the more successful I’ve become, the more I’ve realized it’s the things around acting I don’t love. I sometimes wish I could just go make a movie and then disappear. I never thought I would be like that, actually. I was surprised at my reaction, because I love acting. It’s harder than anything I’ve ever done, but it also provides more fun and fulfillment than anything else I’ve ever done.”
On whether he ever considers quitting acting: “Sometimes I do think, You know what? I could see myself doing something else in a few years. Although I said that to somebody else just recently and they said, ‘How many retired actors do you know? How many guys do you know who actually went off to do something else?’ I went, ‘Maybe you’re right.’ But I do feel sometimes it’d be really great to disappear. Now, I might go and do that for a year and then think, Sh-t, I need to come back! Because that’s the thing: At the end of the day, I love making movies.”
Courtesy of Los Angeles Confidential
