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The fact of the matter is that most actors are shy people.

I've never had a desire to be famous. Lots of actors are actually extremely shy. I have shy areas.

I continue to be very shy. I think a lot of actors and performers are really weird, shy people working it out onstage. I don't know why that is.

A lot of good actors tend to be quite introverted as people.

The hardest thing about being an actor, for me, is that if you are the 0.00001% of individuals who wants to do it, you're a freak. And you're an assertive freak. Though actors are often shy, there's this tremendous assertive extroversion in you somewhere.

My problem with being an actor was that I was far too shy to actually do it.

I say I'm not shy, but... Acting is a very vulnerable experience, and you've got to be really confident to put yourself out there to be judged.

In movies, you get to explore parts of yourself that in real life, people shy away from, like looking stupid or embarrassing yourself or getting too angry, anything inappropriate. As an actor, you walk into those moments.

Some of the greatest actors on the planet are the most insecure people. Now I don't know if that insecurity necessarily equates to a lack of confidence. Some people are just very shy individuals. You give them a character to play and a script, and you put them in front of a camera or on a stage, and they just go.

For me, I had to overcome shyness to be an actor. But as a director, you lose your subjectivity, your self-consciousness. And instead of just your role, it's the life of the whole play that becomes a reflection of you.