I think it's true of every great comedy that it's rooted in some dramatic, incredibly personal truth. And it's true of all great drama that there has to be comedy.
It's almost like the psychology of a film is no different from the psychology of a person in that it has to function, it has to breathe, it has to have its releases, it has anxiety.
Technically, my first paying job was I was an extra in my dad's movie 'Dan in Real Life.'
The great thing about scenes that involve nervous breakdowns - in the little experience I have doing them - is that there's no way to craft it. You just have to do it, and it sort of crafts itself in just being incredibly messy.
I'm not sure I would want to be a filmmaker, because I've seen how many people they have to go through in order to create their own movie. It doesn't seem like something I can imagine putting myself through.
I never really thought it would be possible to keep making films. I thought I'd get to a point where it would just stop happening, and I still sort of feel that way. I don't know if any actor feels like they are going to have a career forever, unless they're a movie star.
The more you learn to love yourself, the better actor you will be. That's always going to be my training. Every part is, 'How can I learn to love myself more?'
I'd love to do a love story. I've never done a true love story, which would be awesome. But then again, I don't think I've had a true love story, even in my own life. Maybe that's something I want to explore in my own life first.
I grew up in a film-loving family. We watched the Oscars every year. My favorite thing in the whole world was film. The Oscars obviously was the holy grail.
All it really takes to fall in love with a script is to understand, right off the bat, one piece of the story.
When I was in high school, I tried too hard to be cool and to impress people, but playing all these different characters has helped me find myself again.
The ten-block radius around my house in Brooklyn has been my whole world. When I walk on the street, I feel like I've rediscovered my childhood innocence. I love it because nothing has changed.
You're living your life the entire time in both worlds - it's not like they say, 'Action' and you're like, 'Here we go, we're in this thing,' because that's where bad acting comes from.
The first thing I ever auditioned for was a movie called 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.' And, this is kind of a secret, but it came down between me and the one other kid for it, but I didn't get it, so.
If I did have social media, I would spend way to much time on it. It is way too addictive for me.
Acting is not about showing what you're feeling. It's about doing something. It's about what you're doing for the other person. Anything other than 'doing' is not grounded in the truth.
