My wife Jill and I have an incredibly close working relationship and an incredibly happy married one. We met through work. I was the world's worst advertising copywriter. She had the misfortune to be my account director so from the very start she was my boss and she still is.

I've discovered just how symbiotic the relationship is between writers directors and actors. They ask the same questions and strip down texts in exactly the same way.

Film's hard when you don't have any relationship with the director at all and you just show up. Then you really are just a gun for hire.

It's an important thing to have a relationship with the director and have it be a positive one.

There's been a slow death in a way. On the positive side there are films getting into the Academy Awards that wouldn't have but on the negative side financiers are now dominant and making all the decisions. I can't count the ways a director's vision is compromised.

There's no such thing as an actor giving positive criticism to a director. The minute you say 'Don't you think it would look nicer...' that director's going to hate your guts. Particularly if it's a good idea.

I'm on the board of directors for Peace Now which works tirelessly between the Palestinians and the Israelis to create peace in the Middle East and we've never been closer.

That's why I never became a director. I never had patience with people.

My sense is I think it's okay for directors to do movies that speak to other work in their career.

I did direct two short movies. I learned many things and one of the things I learned was that I am not a director. It has to be visceral and it's not for me. I feel much more comfortable acting.