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You can be playing a line some way and the director wants you to change that, or you can disagree. But I always think that the creative conversation between director and actor is what leads to good work.

As a director, it is important to understand the actor's process.

I think I'm a better collaborator, in seeing the bigger picture and trying to just help that, and not be so self-centered in whatever my task is, which is being an actor.

As a director, you see something in someone; you know it's there, you just got to go get it. You do that with any actor. That's your job.

Actors and directors work on things together. That's how I like to work, anyway. I don't want to be told what to do. I want to share it with someone and work it out together.

I would like to believe that I am a collaborative actor. That's why I love all the directors I have worked with in recent times, as they are all collaborative directors. I think my constant desire is to keep bettering my own work. I don't get easily satisfied with my work; I am very critical of it. I learn from my mistakes.

As a director, I've been able to combine with what I've learned as an actor and as a producer: it melds quite nicely into what I feel like I should have been doing all along.

The director is the ultimate creative arbiter of what's going to happen. And as a director myself, you really appreciate collaborating with people who are trying to help you find what you need and what you want.

As far as an actor-director connection, I think those can develop, and when they do, they're really great, and you just cultivate it like you would any relationship or friendship. If you find that something special, it helps down the line when you want to do more projects with each other.