The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.
My job on 'Dark Shadows' was to make it fun and funny, first and foremost. It can still be dark and it can still even be gory and gothic at times, but it also needed to be fun and it needed to be an experience that people would enjoy having.
I like a movie that brings out many discussions. From my experience, every time I have done movies, they create this kind of situation. Like 'Irreversible,' 'The Passion of the Christ,' 'Malena'; it's so interesting. I like to explore the dark side of humanity. That's why I'm an actor.
The most nerve-wracking experience is an oral presentation in class. And right under that would be doing 'Saturday Night Live' or 'David Letterman.' One of those shows.
I think early on in my career, I was heavily inspired by bands like Throbbing Gristle and Test Dept, and films of David Lynch, for example, where the soundscape plays a very important role in the listening experience.
So much of what I create has been due to the influence of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and so many of those that have passed on. Their music, their legacy lives on with the rest of us because we are so highly influenced by their experience and what they have given us.
And then I went to 'Dawson's Creek,' which is a show that was, for better or for worse, all about the language. It was a word-perfect show, which I'd never had any experience with. And it was really shocking for me. I felt really hemmed in. At the time, it wasn't my favorite working experience.
Growing up at United and training with him day-in, day-out, you learn a lot from him. Wazza is always there, and you can talk to him. He has been through a lot of experiences in his life, and he is always happy to pass that experience down to the younger players.
A rare experience of a moment at daybreak, when something in nature seems to reveal all consciousness, cannot be explained at noon. Yet it is part of the day's unity.
With 'Dazed and Confused,' I got the high school experience I didn't get to have.
I can play the character better because of the roundness of my experience - because of the things I've been through. All those method guys - like that De Niro, Stallone, and what's his name, Pacino - they're all the same.
One of the things in my experience about changing parties: There are very few exceptions to the general rule. And the general rule has been, people are going to invite you into the church, but they are not going to make you a deacon.
With high fashion, it's a performance. You're trying to interpret a fantasy in a very physical way, and you really are playing a character. I've played men, dead people, famous people, historical icons, and it's no mean feat. It's quite an insular experience even though the crowd is in front of you and there's an expectation.
'Deadwood' was a magical experience. It was an absolute culmination of everything I've ever wanted to do as an actor as an artist, and I was enormously proud to have been involved with it.
I've been incredibly blessed with good roles the past few years, but none of them compares to the experience of playing Ellsworth on 'Deadwood.' There are times when I've had as much fun or had comparably great material, but as a body of work, playing Ellsworth tops anything else in my lifetime.
I don't know that hearing people have ever felt that experience of truly being left out. They have easy communication, while deaf people can't join in. It takes more time to communicate with us.
The plain man is familiar with blindness and deafness, and knows from his everyday experience that the look of things is influenced by his senses; but it never occurs to him to regard the whole world as the creation of his senses.
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.
My experience bears out an adage about airlines: People almost always opt for convenience and price, even while complaining loudly about crowded planes and a dearth of amenities.
Individuals approaching death often experience encounters with their dead relatives, who seem to welcome them to the next world. These deathbed visions are authentic and convincing; they are often followed by a state of euphoria and seem to ease the transition.
