I knew exactly what to do on Alien, it was funny.

Life isn't black and white. It's a million gray areas, don't you find?

Blade Runner was the godfather of all these fantastic movies that occur today. What's frustrating is that we're short of really great writing and great ideas. Blade Runner was full of them.

It doesn't matter how much faith you have or don't have [in aliens]. I just don't buy the idea that we're alone. There's got to be some form of life out there.

In my view, the only way to see a film remains the way the filmmaker intended: inside a large movie theater with great sound and pristine picture.

I think one of the successes of Gladiator is how we manage to turn on a dime the character from one thing to another where you believe he is one thing and he is something very different.

But Gladiator is one of my favourite adventures because I really loved going into the world. I loved creating the world to the degree where you could almost smell it.

Once you crack the script, everything else follows.

Never be put off by anything because failure teaches you something.

Nowadays, everything's evolved into superheroes and it's boring. If I see one more superhero movie I'm going to shoot myself.

The whole process of making movies and writing screenplays is visceral and intuitive.

I'm a studio guy. That's really what I love the most. I'm so fascinated with audio gear and recording techniques and whatnot, it's pretty mesmerizing.

One of the great things about being an actor is that you do get to indulge in someone else's life.

Music is the most spiritual language for the human being.

The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make a life meaningful either.

If you can make the reader laugh he is apt to get careless and go on reading.

All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.

Ballet.something pure in this crazy world

I cannot, in my old age, live off pieces of my youth.

L. A. is crazy. The women all look the same now. That thing with the cheeks. Like Madonna. Who do they think they're fooling? It doesn't make them look young. You end up looking like a freak.

When it comes to words I have a uniqueness that I find almost impossible in art – and it's my words that actually make my art quite unique.