I just feel lucky to get as many shots as I get at good roles. Really lucky, indeed. I always loved movies as an escape. I just wanted to be an artist, because I don`t just want to come and go and have no one know I ever lived. I wanted to make a record of my existence. For some people it doesn`t happen, even if they`re wonderful talents. Knock on wood, it has happened to me, but I know many talented people who aren`t working.

(On his instincts as an actor) "When I first read the script for Hard Target, I thought, "I`m gonna glue my ears back for this role,` and I had no idea why at the time. In my mind`s eye I saw the character as being linear, sleek; he looked like a Doberman. So I got my hair cut in a certain way. The thing I hate most in acting is asking permission to do things. What you really want to do is say, `This is my need; this is what`s going to get me further; this is what`s going to be alive. I don`t ever say, `Do you mind if...?` I just come in and do it."

(On working so much) "You know something, if you`re not acting, you`re not an actor - you`ve gotta work. No way around it. I remember Andy Garcia - we had done Jennifer 8 together. And Andy, I think was probably making a couple of million for that movie, and he looked at me one day and he goes, `Hey Lan, you work too much, you shouldn`t work so much.` And I said, `Alright Andy, if I was making a couple million a movie, I wouldn`t work too much. I wouldn`t need to work `too much`!` Everybody has their own life to live, and I love doing the work, so what I am I gonna do? He hasn`t done the same kind of roles I have. But it`s lucky for me, because I`m really having a good time."

To me rites of passage through life, that`s a wonderful, beautiful thing.

The thing I hate most in acting is asking permission to do things. What you really want to do is say, `This is my need; this is what`s going to get me further; this is what`s going to be alive. I don`t ever say, `Do you mind if... ?` I just come in and do it.

I`ve broken bones doing stunts, I`ve always been one to have a go. But after a while I realized that there are some things not worth doing. Stunt men pay a price, some of them can hardly walk when they`re older. John Woo set me on fire twice for Hard Target. It burnt my ears! But I would`ve done anything for John Woo.

(On what he won`t do as an actor) "I won`t do slasher movies, and I won`t play child molesters or men who beat women. I can`t rationalize Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday 13th films because they`re too one-note. And besides I`ve been killed in so many movies in so many ways over the years that to be dealing out that kind of death would be terrible. I`ll play a bad guy, but he has to be a character with a purpose."

You can`t do every movie - although I do a lot of them - and the thing I`m longing to do is ... it`s not that I think I`m funny ... but I long to do a situation comedy.

You do your work as fully as you can, and the ones who hear the sound join in.

When I do a horror or a fantasy film it all boils down to something in the script that surprises me. It could be a big thing or a small moment. If it`s there I`ll do it.

(On inspirational actors) "Certain actors performance even in bad films can be incredible, and inspiring. Some of my favorite actors weren`t very well noticed in their careers: John Malone was a great actor, he came from the Peking Theatre. And Chow Yun Fat, John Woo is a great guy and an inspiring person. Along the way there are moments from all kinds of movies, if I find 5 minutes in any film worth watching it is worth watching the film. I love finding that gem of a performance. There are so many actors who are so talented. The one best thing on Millennium was meeting new actors every week. I always tried to make them feel welcome."

(On leaving his role as Frank Black behind) "Man, it took me a year to get out of that. With effort. The first thing I did was go to Hawaii and get two tattoos. One is a shark, the other dolphins. I felt attacked, and I felt like a beast. It was dark stuff. I think if we had gone on another year, it really would have taken hold."

(On creating characters) "There`s a way that the Actors Studio works, they want you to create character based on some experience from your own life so you personalize it. If you put that in your role your gonna do it: once you commit and make it personal, it`s like a thread. That thread, once its pulled - channeled - you don`t know where it`s coming from. You start this `channeling`. And it starts coming at such a speed."

When you do a low budget film, you gotta let your intuition fly.

I always wanted to be an actor, even when I was a little kid. When I used to run away from home, I`d go to movies and sit all night watching Kirk Douglas. When I was 16, I tried getting into the Actors Studio and they told me to get lost. I said `I`ll come back when I`m a man`, and I came back when I was 30. I went to sea, I traveled the world ... I was waiting.

(On his success) "I appreciate the idea that anybody would think of me as a star. But I`m really not career oriented in the sense that I want to be a star. It`s not in me. It`s not what I do. In fact, I`m amazed that I`ve even gotten this far."

I appreciate the idea that anybody would think of me as a star. But I`m really not career oriented in the sense that I want to be a star. It`s not in me. It`s not what I do. In fact, I`m amazed that I`ve even gotten this far.

(On how he got started in the business) "I started in theatre, my first job was designing sets. I didn`t know what I was doing, but I had a talent for making dramatic sets; I had been a painter for years. The first play I did, I got the job because I had built the set! And I didn`t even know I got the lead part. The key thing to remember in this business is that they don`t invite you in, but once you`re in they won`t kick you out. So start small and it will grow."

Corporate nationalism to me is a little bit like what would have happened if Hitler had won. It`s scary stuff. It`s totalitarianism in a different from, under a different flavour.

I had no idea I would make my career in film, but I always knew from my theater work that I would be an actor. To be honest there are hard parts to being an actor. I`m still coming to terms with being away from home, being in a hotel for months on end, losing girl friends and wives because I`m not there to maintain such relationships.

(On playing real characters) "The hardest part about playing a real person in a movie is that it makes you very self-conscious. But once you start working then you`re ok, you get into it and don`t think about it. It`s different if you meet them beforehand, it would make it easier. But I`ve only ever played guys I`ve never met. It would be better to meet them beforehand."

You know something, if you`re not acting, you`re not an actor - you`ve gotta work. No way around it.

When I start working I go back to zero again literally. It`s the only way, because if I approach a film without being at zero I`m not having the experience. I`m just bringing my tricks - and I`m not gonna do that. It`s risky because you end up on an adventure that you weren`t expecting, and I like it. That`s why I do acting. I am still enthusiastic about acting. I`m not bored. I`m not doing a George Sanders: poor guy killed himself. His note was `I`m bored`. Poor guy. But no I love it.

I never understand with movie companies, why they don`t think of where to spend money. A lot of the time they throw money at things that don`t work. They just keep throwing money at it. `Well this movie, if it didn`t work with that much money, this will make it work!` But they don`t know that if they paid actors for a couple of weeks to rehearse, they would save hundreds of thousands of dollars on the set.

It does seem like some of my films have become cult movies and have done very well in the long run. In several cases, they have proven themselves without any help at all.

When you do a low-budget film, you gotta let your intuition fly.

Acting is still tough for me on a certain level. Every role for me is like going back to zero. I have to decide what I`m going to do or if I can even act anymore. It`s rough when you`re constantly challenging yourself to do better and better work, rather than merely going through the motions.

[on his success] I appreciate the idea that anybody would think of me as a star. But I`m really not career-oriented in the sense that I want to be a star. It`s not in me. It`s not what I do. In fact, I`m amazed that I`ve even gotten this far.

I`ve always known from the beginning of my acting career that you only get an acting job if you`ve got something to learn about it. If you don`t do it well, you`ll be condemned to doing the same role over and over and over again. If you do it mediocre you`ll have to do it again. Once you`ve done the role really well, you don`t have to repeat it , you don`t have to go back there.

I`m pretty slapstick in my life but nobody sees that. You get typecast. I`m from New York and I have a shit-detector that`s outspoken. I`m very streetwise and the producers detect that. So they get me on a movie and kill me. I go into their offices and I`m sure when I leave they say, "You know, he`d be great to kill". I`ve been killed every way you can imagine.

If I`m going to have a rough time doing it, then that`s what I`ll do. If I`m in the comfort zone, I can`t. I have to get off-balance enough to be alive.

The challenge for me in a part is if it`s something I haven`t done.

You can`t do every movie - although I do a lot of them - and the thing I`m longing to do is . . . it`s not that I think I`m funny . . . but I long to do a situation comedy.

I always wanted to be an actor, even when I was a little kid. When I used to run away from home, I`d go to movies and sit all night watching Kirk Douglas. When I was 16, I tried getting into the Actors Studio and they told me to get lost. I said "I`ll come back when I`m a man", and I came back when I was 30. I went to sea, I traveled the world . . . I was waiting.