You're not always going to hit the bull's-eye. I'm going to make movies that work and I'm going to make movies that don't work, and that's just a part of being creative. Because really, I think if you're taking risks and you're pushing yourself and you're doing things that scare you, you are going to fall on your face, and it's not always going to work.
But you have to look at your work with an honest critical eye. Work on the things that you need work on. Scare yourself. Surprise yourself. If you don't like the way it's going, you have complete control over changing the course. That's one of the best things about doing this.
Let's see... Rihanna! Work, work, work, work, work, work; OK, what? How much work does it take to move your behind, honey? I don't understand the job situation you're going through.
What nobody tells people who are beginners… is that all of us who do
creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap.
For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s
trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not… your taste is why your work
disappoints you… We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want
it to have. We all go through this… It is only by going through a volume of work
that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your
ambitions.
I look at some of my work and say, "Oh, that's where I can be better." I want to continue to grow and do things that do scare me. I want to work with filmmakers who will help me go deeper in my work.
The key to a good horror movie is what happens between the scares. The scares aren't the tricky part. If you're involved in what's going on in between, the scare is going to trick you. If you're not, the best scare in the world will not be scary.
I work a lot and I like to get out and work but the work I do to make the other work work I'm not very good at.
Work begets work. Just work. If you work, people will find out about you and want to work with you if you're good. So work anywhere you can. That's why I've changed my mind about these theatres where people work for free or have to pay money. I think it's kind of terrible that they feel they have to, but you know what? They're working.
Heaven is not a place for those who are afraid of hell; it’s a place for those who love God. You can scare people into coming to your church, you can scare people into trying to be good, you can scare people into giving money, you can even scare them into walking down an aisle and praying a certain prayer, but you cannot scare people into loving God. You just can’t do it.
I want to work with great directors. I want to work on good material with good actors. I've probably done 20 movies at this point and a lot of independents. It's been an incredible ride and I love it and I'm just going to keep going and doing what I'm doing.
All the lawyers and the business stuff is work, but actually creating stuff isn't work. It's good effort. It's hard work. But, it's not work. It doesn't feel like work because the result is very rewarding.
There are words that work, that are meant to explain and educate on policies that work, on products that work, on services that work. I'm not going to ever try to sell a lemon. I don't do that.
All you can do is do good work, and do the good work for the sake of doing the good work and your evolution as an artist. That's what's most important to me.
I hate talking about class, but the truth is as an actor you're only going to be doing some really great work if you can afford to be out of work and take the good stuff. If you can't, you're going to be treading quite a different path.
This is one of the good parts of being a freelancer - you get to choose the spot you're going to be working at. But I wouldn't base everything on my social media or my work. I'm also a person and I have my personal life. So my social media is my work. It's an important part of my life but it's not my life. People tend to get the wrong idea because they only see the good stuff but it's just my work. I'm trying to portray only the good stuff and what I think is going to be inspiring. I have a personal Instagram where my friends follow me.
I realized that work doesn't beget work. Good work begets work. So I got a lot more patient and stopped worrying about working all the time.