I was lucky I always got along with girls. It was never like a big deal. I had a lot of girls that I was friends with that I wasn`t sexual with. I think having two older sisters made me comfortable like that. I just like people, so I can just go up and say whatever.

Whenever you`re scared of something, don`t let that define you. We all feel it, but step up.

The last book I read was the book I`ve been rereading most of my life, The Fountainhead.

I loved Old School. I thought Old School was very different than a lot of the comedies that had come out. And that character I liked. I tried to ground him very much in reality and play him very much finding things important to him that are somewhat ridiculous.

As a kid I had a hard time reading in school. I was the kid who would go one period a day to the class for kids with learning disabilities.

You don`t worry about being liked. You have to be yourself.

I moved out at 18. I always studied classes and trained a lot, you know. I think nowadays is such a different time because there`s so many channels promoting the celebrity aspect of things.

My father`s name is Vernon, and my mother liked the initials double V, so she named my sisters Victoria and Valerie. That`s cool- except when the dogs start getting V names.

(July 2005 - On quitting smoking) I quit smoking four months ago and since then I have been biting-chewing-fidgeting with anything that isn`t nailed down. I quit cold turkey. I was up to two packs a day, I`m coughing, my eyes are red, I don`t have energy, I`m not even enjoying it, so I just said, `That`s it.` I think it might`ve been easier if I went with Nicorette or one of those supplements, but I just don`t get that. Let`s see, I`m addicted to something, so I know! Let`s pop some pills to get over it! Yeah, that makes sense. But now I find myself in conversations where people are looking at me and I`m salivating all over myself. This is how pathetic and sad it is: you start thinking, `Who am I without a cigarette in my hand?`

(On The Cell) "I didn`t really want to do it, from reading the script. It didn`t make a lot of sense to me. It was [Cell director] Tarsem [Singh] and his visuals that made me want to do it. It`s almost like you walk through a museum exhibit of an artist in a dark period of his life."

My father came from nothing, so he believed that people could do anything if they worked hard enough. I think he liked that I chose to be an actor. Both he and my mom were totally supportive.

The best thing as an actor, the best tool you have is your imagination. That you kind of take things that have happened, and then go and expand on them. However small it is, you use your imagination to create what that reality is. There`s something kind of fun when you`re not old enough to do anything, driving a car, getting into a bar, drinking, going to a party you don`t belong to, something when you`re young in that innocent way.

"I`ve never done a romantic comedy, because it seems they can`t just tell a love story. It`s always something like a radio station does a poll and decides these two people will get along, and if they do they get a million dollars. You don`t need all of that to get into a love story." [2001]

We were out of work actors who played a lot of video games, so we were sort of surprised that Swingers was seen as cool. I think any cool in it was a geekiness, an awkwardness that most people can relate to.

(On hooking up romantically with co-stars) It`s understandable. You`re in situations with an actress where you`re supposed to be intimate, physical, and vulnerable with each other, and sometimes feelings get crossed. It`s like you`re away at summer camp and it seems to make sense, but when you go back home, the reality is that it may not be a situation you want to be in.

(On taking a colossal pay cut to make a documentary) I could keep trying to do the same kind of comedies. You know how it`s going to go, and you can get an audience with it, but then I feel like a hamster on a wheel.

(On his goofy role as Santa`s no-account brother Fred) Maybe next time we`ll turn Labor Day on its ass.

I really like comedy that brings people together. There`s a lot of comedies lately that have been at people`s expense or been kind of acidic or mean-spirited. And some folks like that, and I think there`s room for that, but that`s not my style. I like something that makes us all feel closer. Comedy, at its best, can be healing.

My grandfather was a farmer so I was always raised that you worked very hard whatever your job is; my sister was a teacher. You`re to be respected if you try hard and try to be good at something and the results are less important. You can`t control that. The more important thing is that you tried your best. But now there`s much more of an intention where some of these kids don`t want to be actors, they want to be famous! Their focus isn`t necessarily on craftsmanship.

If I`m not interested in a woman, I`m straight-forward. Right after sex, I usually say, `I can`t do this anymore. Thanks for coming over!`

I think too many people look at the arts with a religious outlook. Arts, music, singing and performing, it`s all make-believe.