Most actors, if you ask them if they play guitar, they'll say they played guitar for 20 years, but what they really mean is they've owned a guitar for 20 years.
— Oscar Isaac
I think for some reason we're conditioned in movies that the protagonist must be heroic or redeemable in some way, whereas in theater, that's not a necessary.
'Drive' is a genre piece, and a lot of times we don't get really sophisticated genre films.
Our morality is based on so many factors: of where we were born, who we were born to, what values were instilled in us, what values we chose, the way that our lives have shaped us. That dictates so much of what we assume is our morality, and also the culture, all of these things.
You watch 'Whale Rider,' and I defy you to not get teary-eyed at the end there.
It's nice to create a character, not just within two scenes, but within the journey of a whole movie. It's fun to do that.
Max Minghella is a very close friend of mine, and I talk to him regularly.
When I moved to New York, I had to let my band know that I couldn't play anymore, and that was difficult to leave that behind.
I was in bands, but they were punk bands, and you plug in the guitars, you turn them up really loud, you've got four or five other people on stage with you, you've got some protection from when they throw lighters. You can always hide behind the lead singer or the bass player.
I think it's good to be a little more fearless in saying what you feel. In not being scared of the repercussions of that.
I've never been much of a guitarist. I mean, I've played forever, but I was always more of a rhythm kind of guy. I don't read music.
I had an audition where Josh Brolin was pelting me with his personality. I didn't get the part.
I was never much of a singer. I was terrible. It's embarrassing: I was trying to sound like everybody else. I went through a big Cure phase, so I was trying to do that kind of dramatic voice.
I played guitar and bass. I didn't do much vocals, although I did have one band where I was the lead singer. But that was when I was in college.
I grew up in a very devoutly Christian home.
There's very few people - like Shakespeare - who, no matter what, were gonna do what they did. For the rest of us, there's a lot of events that have to happen in order for things to end up the way they are.
I like the idea of the comedy of resilience.
I always joked with my parents. I told them, 'If I don't make it as an actor, my fallback is musician.'
If you can find a way that your principles are actually the strategically smartest thing to do, you've kind of figured it out.
I guess 'Scarface' was the Cuban Al Pacino.
How do you play 'righteous'? Do you just kind of stand up straighter? What does that mean as an actor? You don't really play a quality.
I'm so bored by business and money.
All of my high school issues are resolved!
There's very few geniuses that come and revolutionize everything. For the rest of us that want to be artists and have something to say, it's a lot of work and a lot of luck.
When I'm creating a character, I don't see it so much as playing someone else as just playing a specific part of myself under certain circumstances.
I've done movies I'm very proud of, but there's always a sense of: 'Come see this shiny new car!' The question I hate the most is: 'Why should people see it?'
I started playing guitar at, like, 12 or 13 and just rock bands mostly. I had a punk rock band and hard core bands and all that.
I get attached to things: I wear the same jeans for a year.
My dad was a huge Bob Dylan fan, so we listened to his music, Cat Stevens, Simon & Garfunkel, and all that kind of stuff.
I don't know if they were all functioning, but I did play in a bunch of bands.
With Shakespeare, there's no subtext; you're speaking exactly what you're thinking constantly.
For me, with a character, you start with the shoes.
Jessica Lange was my biggest crush when I was a kid.
I think romantic passion is wanting a little something in return.
If you start trying to communicate ideas, I think you don't allow the audience to see themselves.
It'd be crazy to say just because an artist is not successful that means he's not talented. I don't think anybody really believes that, but sometimes it feels that way.
'Mojave' is a very wild, throwback film with these two dudes going after each other.
What's funny in 'The Mayor of MacDougal Street' is how Dave Van Ronk talks a lot about the time and how exciting it was and how electric it was.
When I came up to New York to do a play, I passed by Julliard, and I was like, 'Oh I heard of this place.' I applied, and ended up getting in.
I had a great conversation with Tom Waits, of all people.
I think that's why often people in creative fields can feel so alone is because there's a constant third eye, that constant watcher.
A movie set is like a petri dish for neuroses, you know? It's just, like, egos and weird personalities and, more than anything, fear.
My dad was a doctor, but he was just always, like, going from hospital to hospital for some reason.
I started off thinking that I just needed one shot to prove myself, but then I realised that I was only going to learn about acting by doing it.
My dad always played a lot of music, so I heard him playing all the time, and then I decided that I wanted to learn to play guitar, so I got an acoustic and started taking lessons. I wanted to be able to shred like Yngwie Malmsteen.
I think that when you decide to dedicate yourself to creative endeavors and surround yourself with people who are creative, you very quickly learn how hard it is to survive doing those kinds of things, not to mention make a living at them.
I like being like a chameleon who transforms himself with each role.
