I work very hard on motivating everything I do as an actor. Explosive moments have to be completely motivated; whether they're explosive comedy or explosive horror, they have to come organically out of a scene and an interaction with another actor.

My sense of myself is that I'm a character actor, and character actors are ready, willing, and able to do anything, to be totally different from themselves. That's my job, to be ready. I'm some kind of first responder.

When I was a teenager, I remember the extraordinary feeling of accomplishment for completing 'Vanity Fair.' I don't think it was even for school.

I owe my whole career as a storyteller to my father. He was an actor/director/producer and teacher.

I'm probably a better granddad than dad because your role as a grandfather is to be fun, and I'm fun.

When you end a successful sitcom, the most sensible thing to do is go back to the theater.

We're in the business of using real emotions to bring pretend emotions to life.

If you go through your life being completely truthful, everybody will hate you, and something I deeply fear is being hated.

I'm very concerned for the future of the earth and its amazing creatures. We've got to be careful and make sure we don't foul our own nest.

Everybody's a dreamer.

I'm an avid Boston Red Sox fan.

I went to - I got a wonderful college education. I went to Harvard. In those four years, I accumulated a lot of knowledge, but I also created a kind of habit of learning that has stayed with me my whole life.

There is less difference than you would imagine entertaining little children and entertaining adults.

Up there with my awards, I have a great big statue of Groucho Marx, just to put everything in perspective.

'M. Butterfly' is usually the answer to the question, 'What has been your favorite experience?' The reason being, it is an astonishing play.

We moved around a lot when I was growing up. I was always the new kid in class, but I was good at making friends. With an upbringing like that, I was either going to become an actor or a politician. Thank God I became an actor! I'm not cut out for politics.

I really prize and love great painting.

I'm getting older, but better, too. And the roles are getting better.

I do all the cooking in the family. I cook Italian, mostly, pastas and roasts, and bit by bit, I'm learning how to bake. I think cooking is a gift to other people.

My worst audition was for Tim Burton for 'Batman.'

The essence of comedy, drama, and horror is surprise. I have an uncanny ability to surprise people because they look at my face, and they don't know where I'm going.

To my mum, I owe security in a very insecure young life. We lived in about 10 different places because of my father's chequered career, and she always made me feel a sense of consistency and security. I was a well-mothered boy.

My eagerness to please sometimes gets the better of me.

In 1995, I proposed the Harvard Arts Medal. The idea was to celebrate the fact that, although it's rare, Harvard men and women do go into the creative arts. Over the years we've had major, major figures, like Jack Lemmon, John Updike, Yo-Yo Ma, and Bonnie Raitt.