I've realized that being happy is a choice. You never want to rub anybody the wrong way or not be fun to be around but you have to be happy. When I get logical and I don't trust my instincts - Thats when I get in trouble.

I considered becoming a priest very seriously. I wanted to travel the world. By the time I turned 16 I realized I was only in it for selfish reasons. And more importantly I didn't want to sacrifice the ladies!

The truth is after Boys Don't Cry I realized how few and far between the great roles are. I am beyond thankful for finding Million Dollar Baby.

In my mind I needed a symbol of today's technology and I realized that what I wanted to photograph was the Space Shuttle. And so that's where Places of Power came into being.

When a music teacher that I had at school was taken ill and we had a variety show and I had to fill in - that's when I realized I had a voice.

I took an acting class. After the first day the teacher quit so they said take another. When I saw 'How to be a Stand-up Comedian ' it resonated. I realized I'd rather make 200 people laugh than make one person cry.

I had come to the point when I realized it was unlikely that my film career was going to move beyond a certain level of role. And I was - because I had graphic instances of it - handicapped by the success of Star Trek. A director would say 'I don't want Jean-Luc Picard in my movie' - and this was compounded by X-Men as well.

We are taught to consume. And that's what we do. But if we realized that there really is no reason to consume that it's just a mind set that it's just an addiction then we wouldn't be out there stepping on people's hands climbing the corporate ladder of success.

I realized then that the generations may change but the strength of our nation remains solid.

I realized a while back that I have an innate ability to be compassionate and I saw that the strength of compassion is something that healers have and healers use.'