Q: What motivates you to take on a role?
A: A good story, or in this case, something that I found really funny and thought other people would laugh at too. I don't really have any set criteria, but I've always had a big interest in the words.
Q: Ruben Fleischer is directing for the first time. Did he live up to your expectations?
A: There was an element of trust there, but he did a great job.
Q: You had a long break from making movies, almost five years. When you aren't filming, are you able to forget about it or are you always looking for that elusive, great script?
A: I read scripts all the time when I'm not working. Even when I took five years off, I still read some scripts and there was a couple that came in and I was like, "I should do this ." When I'm around my family, obviously it takes priority, but I still take time to read. I also like to write and I've got three things that are three-quarters finished, including a play.
Q: Tell us more.
A: Working as an actor, even though the production may be a great gig, you are a pawn to the director's vision, which is great, but I want to get my version of funny out there. It's two screenplays and one stage play, all comedy. One is an adaptation of a book titled The Comedy Writer, by Peter Farrelly.
Q: Are you disciplined, with a study to write in?
A: I can't really say I am (laughs). I tend to write wherever I am if I'm in the mood.
Q: You are a committed environmentalist. Are things more hopeful now? Are people more aware?
A: In terms of awareness, it's moving in the right direction, but driving a bunch of hybrid cars is not going to be what changes this world. We have to change the fuel that feeds our society and the fuel that feeds us as individuals.
Q: You carried out a protest on the Golden Gate Bridge. Wasn't that dangerous?
A: It was a good cause, we had good equipment and we were protesting against the logging of the Redwoods, which is something I feel passionate about.
Q: Why did you take a five-year break from filming?
A: I needed to step back. I didn't intend to take that much time, but I wasn't enjoying it and I had been doing so many back to back. I was upset and disappointed by the backlash to The People vs Larry Flynt It was received better in Europe. In the US, they got very puritanical about it. I thought, "I'm not enjoying this any more, I've got to stop."
Q: What did you learn from that time?
A: I'm a hard worker, but I'm a world-class vacationer!
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