Paul Dano

“One of my favorite films is 'Dumb and Dumber.'”

“There are maybe 100 actors I look up to, but my first two favourite actors were Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson.”

“One of my favorite things I read was John Steinbeck's journals while he was writing 'East of Eden,' which was so cool.”

“I think was overly empathetic for a while in my life.”

“Everything you do, every experience that you have, enlightens you a little bit or worsens you.”

“It's hard to talk about acting because I don't think it's quite as explicit as a lot of people might think. And that's probably the best thing about it.”

“To be running away from explosions with Harrison Ford, you know, that's pretty great.”

“The whole being-in-a-room interview thing, at a junket or a film festival, is very inhuman. You meet the person, have five or 10 minutes to talk, and it's not like a conversation.”

“Sometimes I think your intellect can get in your way as an actor or an artist. When you come from a world of improv and comedy, you're able to let it flicker and fall out.”

“In tragedy, it's hard to find a good resolution; it's not black and white: it's a big fog of gray.”

“I think that one of the strangest things about being an actor is, it's almost freelance work.”

“I don't normally like getting dressed up, but when I go to events, I like to look put together. I've got to say, getting in a nice suit feels good.”

“I like a restaurant called Bruci, and there's some really nice people who work there and good food. They change their menu a lot, so maybe that's what keeps me coming back. I never know what...”

“The way Hollywood works, you're never sure if their first thought is to make a great film and honor the material or just another business property.”

“I don't like to spend a lot of money on haircuts: I'll sometimes grow my hair and get an acting job and get them to cut it for free. I think for a lady, though, it's okay to spend a lot on a...”

“Listening to hard rock on the subway doesn't work for me, especially modern hard rock. Driving in L.A. helped me to understand the appeal of that music.”

“I like listening to my playlist on the iPod. I don't want radio with commercials.”

“I'd always been fascinated by people who allow themselves to be so rude and irritated and foul-mouthed and hostile, but usually you can sense there's something vulnerable beneath them - a sh...”

“I don't want my learning curve to be stunted by just all of a sudden doing work all the time and not being careful about the work that I'm doing.”

“I'm very low-maintenance.”