Adrien Brody

In my work as an actor, I have been given even greater insights and have been guided towards empathy and a consciousness of those who are less fortunate.

I've been painting and drawing fish since I was very young. My mom found old pictures I did when I was around 6 or 7 of all these sharks and scuba diver looking back, a big ship, throwing a harpoon. There was already a message within what I saw.

All commitments require sacrifice and hardship.

Art can go beyond certain boundaries or blindness that we would have without that.

I grew up without a lot of money and my parents grew up with far less money. And that's kept me in line. Really in line.

Being anonymous is a great luxury. It's a big loss to lose that. Mostly, the loss is the ability to observe others without being observed yourself. And as an actor, that is your key tool.

It would be terribly boring to be earnest.

Obviously I'm not there to pick up anybody, but I'm not afraid to hang out in a predominantly gay establishment.

I always had an actor within me.

It's interesting because you feel on the one hand, we understand people from what the say, and in another sense, you'd think that you'd be able to convey more through dialogue.

I was depressed for a year after 'The Pianist,' and I don't suffer from that, generally. It wasn't just a depression; it was a mourning.

It's great when people appreciate your work, but I don't know how seriously to take it. The amazing thing is that I found something so early that I can support myself doing, and that can even be extremely lucrative, but I love it either way.