But there are other roles that people have not seen me do that I have done on the stage.

[The film, currently in pre-production, is also expected to star Ryan Reynolds and Ben Affleck.] I`m a magician, ... I`m kind of like an eight-years-running entertainer of the year in cahoots with the mob, and I`ve fallen on some bad times. So Alicia must kill me, and that`s all I can tell you.

Entourage

I`m a huge fan of hers, ... It`s a completely original piece by a guy named Joe Carnahan [`Narc`]. It`s not necessarily derivative of any style — I guess maybe it`s kind of like Tarantino, but it has its own unique voice. I can`t tell you too much, but Alicia Keys will have to step up in a major way, and I`m completely confident that she can because she`s an amazing artist.

I`m a musician who`s at the end of his rope who`s been addicted to coke for a while,

I`m attracted to flawed characters, ... They`re fun and interesting to play and the rest comes from that.

If I have a rapper like Common rolling hard with me at a club and I hand him a microphone and he hits five songs in a row and the crowd goes crazy, I don`t feel guilty about drinking on the house.

I`m a stage actor. That is what I do.

It`s your job as an actor to fill out the blanks. I love doing that. To fill in the bones.

[on Chicago] I have a place in Chicago and I get there as much as I can . . . The city is so unbelievably beautiful. It`s one of the greatest cities on the planet. My heart beats differently when I`m in Chicago. It slows down and I feel more at ease.

When I was in London I saw Ralph Fiennes in "Brandt". My mother and I went to the stage door, because we were so blown away by it. We were just gushing American fans. And then this guy went, Omigod, Jeremy Piven!" And he started giving it up in a very un-British way. It was a strange moment.

John Cusack and I have been friends since childhood, and the fact that we`re in so many films together is, no pun intended, serendipitous. I audition and, after I find out I`ve got the job, I call Johnny and say "Hey, man, we`re going to be in New Orleans together". And because we`ve done a bunch of films, people connect the dots. But that`s not the case.

[on how to make an impression in small roles] From the get-go, I`d keep talking and never stop. Literally, I would take single lines and just keep going. In Runaway Jury (2003), there are so many great actors but I got lucky because I`m standing next to Dustin Hoffman! That`s the secret; Get next to him and they can`t cut you out!