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Some feel as though the world is their oyster; others feel as though they were the oyster itself, plucked from the ocean, cracked open, and robbed of all that is precious to them.

Throughout my life, I have grappled with my own identity, who I am. As a young child, I often felt ambivalent about myself, in fact, confused.

All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster's autobiography.

Identity for me is something that has to be played with and explored, and not become complacent about or uninterested in.

Our world is drowning in a sea of self-centeredness. You can make yourself quite unique right away by leaving this ocean of selfishness and choosing to be curious about other people.

The truth is that since childhood I had cultivated an existential independence. It came from perceiving the adults around me as unreliable, and without it I felt I wouldn't have survived. I cared deeply for everyone in my family, but in the end I depended on myself.

I'm a novelist: I spend a great part of my day pretending to myself that I'm in a different world, being a different person, faced with decisions I pretend I haven't created.

After 'A Good Day to Die Hard,' I had a bit of an identity crisis as far as where I wanted to place myself in the business. When it's all new and fresh, there is a lot of pressure to know what you represent, and I didn't really get that.

I needed to be myself and find my own identity.