I always feel like I just wanna go, and that's something that I'm learning every day - understanding to think more instead of just going because I see an advantage or I see that 'oh, I can make this move, I can make this shot.'
Every time I'm in the studio, I always think of my professor in undergrad. He was like, "There are so many artists in the world. If you're going to be an artist, make sure you have something to say. Don't just be an artist and put out bullshit. Have something to say." I guess that would be my philosophy and something I think about all the time. Every day when I'm in the studio I hear him and I see him. I remember him saying it in class. So that's something that I always want to make sure I have: I'm saying something with the work.
What I react against in other people's work, as a filmgoer, is when I see something in a movie that I feel is supposed to make me feel emotional, but I don't believe the filmmaker shares that emotion. They just think the audience will. And I think you can feel that separation. So any time I find myself writing something that I don't really respond to, but I'm telling myself, 'Oh yes, but the audience is going to like this,' then I know I'm on the wrong track and I just throw it out.
It's difficult losing, but it's even more difficult when you didn't make a shot. I could see the ball just didn't go your way on an out-of-bounds play or something like that, but when you're just not making them, it's frustrating.
When I first heard that they were going to make 'Beauty and the Beast' at Disney, I was like, 'Oh, God, there's no way I'm going to see that movie,' because I knew what that movie was, was just two people sitting down to dinner over and over and over again. But then when I went to see it, it was like, 'Oh, they made it work.'
I see a lot of people say you just make the music you wanna make and just love what you do, and that is what we do, but I wanna write the best songs we can.
You can't really just think, "Oh, I want to make something that is going to appeal to every single person in the world." You have to just try to make a movie that comes from your heart.
Sometimes you just wanna go out, see your action movie, be done with it, come home. You know, and, like, you see 'The Matrix' or whatever, you see whatever film it is, and you're like, 'Oh cool,' whatever.
People see your life on social media, and they say, 'Oh my gosh, it's perfect,' and I'm like, 'No, every day, it's not even just a struggle: it's something new, and it's a new challenge to make sure that I'm mentally stable and healthy and that I'm okay.' It was just great to finally get it out and talk about it.
Some cynical people may see that the only reason I'm doing something more mainstream is part of a strategy to become more successful but I just see it as a bonus. It just happened... that's the way it is and there's an opportunity there and we're going to take advantage of it. I'd rather if I'm going to be working as hard as I've been working for the last two years - non-stop, solid, no personal life, no break - then I want what I've been working on to be as successful as possible. And I will take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.
I think it's one of the nicest privileges as an actor is to know that you can move people in one moment, make them think about their lives, or make them laugh or make them cry or make them understand something. Or just make them feel something because I think so many of us, including myself, spend too much time not feeling enough, you know?
You don’t forget. You just move past it. Let go. Be who you were supposed to be instead of who they make you feel like you should be
The customer is always what inspires me first! I love talking to everyone on Instagram and seeing feedback on SnapChat! I can ask a question like "What product do you wanna see next??" and they give you immediate answers. I will never make a product I personally wouldn't wear every day! But I think it's important to be in tune with your audience and see their expectations.
I've always looked at people like Carine Roitfeld, Donatella Versace, DVF...people who when you walk on a set you feel like they still have so much excitement for what they're doing every day and they just have so much youth even though they've been doing it for so long. Every day just working to keep a young spirit - because even when you're young that's hard to do, because you get so caught up in things. I just think it's so important to make an effort every day to have a young spirit. Then when you get older, you always kind of keep that.
I think everyone at some point comes up against a wall. Curiously, though, if you continue working, you might readdress that idea from another direction. If you didn't try something, you'd never have anything; if you didn't make an attempt to make the work, it wouldn't exist. There have been times when I could not work, and I would just go and sit down in the studio and wait to see what might happen. You can't always just go and take an exotic trip and come back and make something.
I feel every shot, every camera move, every frame, and the way you frame something and the choice of lens, I see all those things are really important on every shot.
I hate letting my teammates down. I know I'm not going to make every shot. Sometimes I try to make the right play, and if it results in a loss, I feel awful. I don't feel awful because I have to answer questions about it. I feel awful in that locker room because I could have done something more to help my teammates win.