Stephen Lang

I get a lot of people coming up to me and saying, 'I really hate you.' And they say it in the nicest possible way, and I accept it. It's the people who come up to you and say, 'I really liked your character. Man, he was right!' Those are the ones you worry about.

My philosophy is, 'Show up, shut up, and do your job,' and if you do it to the satisfaction of your director and the public, you're likely to be able to do it again.

I think that war is diplomacy by other means, for sure, and there have been wars that have been fought for righteous reasons. There are wars that have had to be fought, and there will probably continue to be.

When Steven Spielberg comes calling, it behooves you to seriously consider it.

I am very happy acting, and just have never gone at, or been bitten by the directing bug to the extent where I'm willing to put acting aside. If offered the opportunity, I think I could do a good job with the right material.

My job, professionally, is tapping into stuff. We've all got it. But, I just am fortunate enough that, beyond the age of 11, it's what I do professionally.

In the movies, I loved Errol Flynn whether he was playing a soldier or a pirate. I dug pirates. In fact, my first exposure to live performances was when my paternal grandfather took me to a D'Oyly Carte performance of 'The Pirates of Penzance' which impresario Sol Hurok imported from London. I loved every minute of it.

My criteria for doing theater has always been slightly different than my criteria with movies, in that there are a lot of reasons to do films, having to do with location, money, and first and foremost having to do with script and role and director.

My Hamlet was about as alienated as you can get. Mine was a bitter and lonely prince. Valid, I think, but maybe tough to root for. I think that romance was missing.

The world of 'Terra Nova' as we joined it... there is a certain amount of prosperity there, and in fact I would say that I was a bit surprised when I first got there to see how it had all developed and how sophisticated the colony was - I had envisioned it being a bit more Swiss Family Robinson, but that wasn't my call.

Hamlet, that's the only role there is, finally. The only role. After that, you settle down and only do the fun things on stage.

I have a penchant for playing God's clowns. Actually, I played Nijinsky once, and he used to call himself God's clown.