I danced a little as a kid here in Canada: in Ottawa at the Elite Dance Studio and at the Top Hat Dance School in Cornwall where I grew up. So I had some experience of having to learn routines.

I'm going to make a movie about 'Hey Girl.'

When I was a kid, I saw 'Rambo First Blood', and the next day, I took knives to school and threw them at everybody. So I was definitely influenced by violent films before 'Drive.'

When I was a kid, I was kind of obsessed with that movie 'Dick Tracy.' Burger King had all this 'Dick Tracy' stuff, and I collected all of it, and I had the posters, and I watched it on a loop.

That's the power of film. If it's good, it can somehow make you feel connected to even the farthest thing from your own experience.

The '70s just seemed dirty, honestly, and not in an interesting way. It's not the '80s. In fact, it's 10 less. I grew up in the '80s, so that's more of an interesting time to me.

My uncle was an Elvis impersonator - his name was Perry, and he went by 'Elvis Perry' - and my work as a wedding singer landed me a spot in his act.

When I made 'The Notebook,' the director, Nick Cassavetes, who is John's son, used to show me his father's movies.

I grew up Mormon. I wasn't really Mormon, my parents were.

It's not easy to leave your hometown and your family and your support system and come out to Los Angeles to - to pursue a dream where the odds are not in your favor.

A car is only trouble at a certain point.

I think I was always bound to become two selves, if I wasn't already.

I did what I had to do to get where I wanted to go. I had unearned confidence.

I'm attracted to films that have strong female characters because there are strong female characters in my life. That's my own reality, so it's a doorway into a world for me.

It was a strange experience, making a love story and not getting along with your co-star in any way.

Some of the styles of dance in 'La La Land' I wish I had spent time on when I was a kid.

I had my hustle. It was whatever I could do to not end up working in a factory. If I had to shake it like a showgirl, I was going to do it.

I don't know enough about manliness to define it.

I've lost perspective on what I'm doing. I think it's good for me to take a break and reassess why I'm doing it and how I'm doing it. And I think this is probably a good way to learn about that. I need a break from myself as much as I imagine the audience does.

I just sort of feel like John Hughes movies are perfect, but they're missing violence. If they just had some violence, they'd be perfect.

My home life now is mostly women. They are better than us. They make me better.

I love 'An American in Paris.' That's the one for me. Some of the visual ideas in that film are just haunting and very free.

It's interesting the kind of freedom the musical form gives you. The rules are out the window. You can get impressionistic without seeming pretentious. Because it's perceived as an inherently accessible form, it gives filmmakers some leeway.

I love being Canadian. I think growing up in Canada gives you a world perspective that I certainly enjoy.

I wish I could be Peter Falk.

I'm glad I have an outlet. I don't think I would put my aggression elsewhere, but working on the projects I have worked on, you tend to benefit personally from trying to wrap your head around the way other people look at the world.

I feel it's important to show that one thing that you do doesn't define you as a human being. It doesn't mean there aren't ramifications or you shouldn't pay for that but its not who you are.

When you meet your kids, you realize that they deserve great parents. And then you have your marching orders, and you have to try and become the person that they deserve.

If you do one good thing, that doesn't define you either. Being around the kids in the juvenile center, they were engaging, they made us laugh but they were there for doing something terrible.

If the character is true, the movie will fall into place. Or at least that's what you hope.

People don't step outside themselves and make the film they want to make, because they're afraid of the reaction. But once you get that reaction and have lived through it, there's nothing they can do to get you down.

When my mother and I walked to the grocery store, men would circle the block in cars. It was very, very scary, especially as a young boy. Very predatory - a hunt.

You can tell so much about somebody by the films they make, and it's only while I approach this do I now realize how much of the filmmaker you can see in their films.

The people of Disney are so incredibly amazing; they are so nice.

I know that I'm with the person I'm supposed to be with.

I need a break from myself as much as I imagine the audience does.

What's nice with comedy is that you know it's working if it's funny.

I've always liked women more. I was brought up by my mother and older sister. I found my way into dance class.

Maybe in my life I sort of put myself in situations that were chaotic, outside of my life.

Watching myself. Watching the people around me. There was some part of me that was there as a kid and growing up and living my life, but there was also some part of me that was watching it all happen from the nosebleeds.

In New York, you're forced to deal with life; it's there in front of you on a daily basis.

I felt like I was going crazy as a kid. I wanted to be man, get a job.

If Russell Crowe says that he's Noah, he's Noah. You never doubt it. If he says that he's the Gladiator, he's the Gladiator. He's every character that he says he is. I've never doubted anything that he's done.

I'm from Canada, and I think, like everyone growing up anywhere else in the world, you are very aware of America - it sort of looms large in its legend, and so did Detroit.

'The Nice Guys' fulfilled my 1970s fantasy.

You feel good if you've done hard work. You sleep better. You get stuck in your head if you have too much time to think.

I got a Twitter because some guy was pretending to be me.

Do you remember when Fabio got hit in the face with a pigeon on the roller coaster, and it broke his nose? Sometimes I feel like I'm the pigeon, and the Internet is Fabio's face. Actually, I don't know if I'm the pigeon, or I'm Fabio's face. Depends on the day, I guess.

Most movies, you have to try and forget you're making a movie, because there are trailers and booms and lights and marks, and it's everywhere.

Working with someone is the best way to get to know someone, especially if it's a creative endeavor.