'Mercury' is one of the most challenging projects I have worked on. From the nuances of the actors' expressions to the minute technicals of the movie, everything needed to be monitored and looked into. The actors were required to emote purely with their face.
I think the writer's quite low down in the hierarchy really. But the fact that they took the piss out of Nicholas [Hynter] who, besides being the director, is also director of the National Theatre is, I'd have thought, slightly more risky.
Mercury is most commonly recognized as a developmental toxin, threatening to young children and fetuses as they develop their nervous system. Prenatal exposure to even low levels of mercury can cause life-long problems with language skills, fine motor function, and the ability to pay attention.
Of all the projects I've worked on, I've never worked with another director like Billy Friedkin. I think he's a genius.
Most people who have encountered mercury have done so after breaking a mercury thermometer. And many of us who saw the liquid balls of mercury scatter across a floor or countertop considered the element the most beautiful on the periodic table.
I suppose the desire to go to town helped make me ambitious, and the allure of the worlds that came in over the radio also helped. But the rewards of growing up on a farm were far greater in many ways than life in town.
My trainers, from Dr. Tom Prichard to Norman Smiley to Joey Mercury, these are people that helped me along the way, not just to become good enough to be on WWE TV, but they also gave me the tools to help differentiate myself.
Being diagnosed with cancer helped me identify all that was wrong in my life. It also helped me search for the solutions. I discovered self-love; I learned to prioritise myself over others and, most importantly, realised that I had to love myself first before somebody else loves me.
I was a natural skater, but I also took private lessons to enhance my skills.
When I worked at my father's deli in Carmel, New York when I was young, my experience waiting on customers and interacting with people all day taught me so many social skills and helped me open up.
In a lot of ways, if I were ambitious about anything - besides my career - I'd be ambitious about love. Ambitious in the sense that I really hope to find true love.
For me, Memphis has always been a city that holds a great deal of meaning and also leads me to a lot of thinking. Besides Sun Studio, which helped put rock n' roll on the map all over the world, the legendary Stax Studio also called Memphis home.
The mercury rule writers also ignored mercury's special qualities
The mercury rule writers also ignored mercury's special qualities.
Looking back, the most challenging thing for me was actually directing. It's very tough. Being in front of the camera is easy since the director can tell me what to do. But being the director and giving people directions is the toughest thing for me.
'The Message' is one of my most ambitious projects in terms of content and story.