You always fear when you're making a movie that has a moral to the story that people are going to reject the idea of being taught a lesson.

The scariest thought in the world is that someday I'll wake up and realize I've been sleepwalking through my life: underappreciating the people I love making the same hurtful mistakes over and over a slave to neuroses fear and the habitual.

If you fear making anyone mad then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.

I wasn't a kid who moved out from Iowa with aspirations of becoming a famous star - I was intrigued by the idea of filmmaking and by the idea of what it would be like to play a character in a movie.

Of course Hollywood is still making some excellent pictures which reflect the great artistry that made Hollywood famous throughout the world but these films are exceptions judging from box office returns and press reviews.

I think anybody who's famous has to deal with their fame in their own way and I dealt with it by making a film about a kid who's looking out into the world of celebrity obsession.

Don't worry about writing a book or getting famous or making money. Just lead an interesting life.

But I didn't ask to have somebody nose around in my private life. I didn't even ask to be famous. All I asked was to be able to earn a living making people laugh.

I kept saying that I'd never live in L.A. and I didn't think I would. But that's where the work is and I ended up making a lot of friends there and my old friends moved out to Los Angeles too. And also I think when you're famous its hard to live in a small town.

The summer before I went to culinary school my family wanted me to take a job on a movie to make sure that I was making the right decision. I think they hoped I would change my mind about culinary school.

I was the oldest of the children in my family. I had to do a lot of diaper-changing and lunch-making. I was taking my little sister to ballet picking up my brother sort of being a super-nanny.

If you feel rooted in your home and family if you're active in your community there's nothing more empowering. The best way to make a difference in the world is to start by making a difference in your own life.

In my family in the days prior to television we liked to while away the evenings by making ourselves miserable solely based on our ability to speak the language viciously.

My whole family is very sarcastic and constantly making jokes.

When I was working and when I was making substantial amounts of money I always filed and paid my taxes. This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family.

I'm still very connected to my family to the world I grew up in. I understand what it means to be afraid that you can't pay a doctor's bill. Or to have to make the choice between buying a band uniform for a seventh-grader and making the insurance payment on time. That will never leave me. It was how I lived until I was well into my adult years.

They needed someone to write a script of The Great Gatsby very quickly for the movie they were making. I took this job so I'd be sure to have some dough to support my family.

I grew up in a family where the women were just nuts. They didn't stand around in cardigans making polite conversation while they chopped tomatoes.

The dirty little secret is that the pool man who's making $30 000 a year is subsidizing the million-dollar mortgage for the family whose pool he cleans. No wonder people want to get rid of tax breaks for corporate jets.

The Rooneys are very classy. They're very deliberate with their decision-making. Once you're part of that family Steeler nation they treat you with respect. You don't have a lot of rambunctious players running around.

Thinking back to those earlier days I felt I was weak when I wasn't making movies and then when I was I thought I was weak as a family member.

Acting is just a way of making a living the family is life.

I can make a firm pledge under my plan no family making less than $250 000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax not your payroll tax not your capital gains taxes not any of your taxes.

A woman should be home with the children building that home and making sure there's a secure family atmosphere.