A tough guy, to me, stands for something, and he's not afraid to get a beating.
Frank Grillo
Israel changed my life. It is one of the most amazing countries that I have ever been to.
I can see parts of my father in 'Kingdom' when I rage like that. I can see my father's frustrations in his life.
When you have Liam Neeson in a film, no matter how good everyone else is, it's a Liam Neeson film. And if there's wolves, and you're running, it's about Liam Neeson running from wolves.
I did 'The Grey,' and it was very intense and emotional because we're in the wilderness, and it was always 30 degrees. You kind of lose your sense of reality in the fact that you're filming a movie.
There's nobody in the arts in my family. It was kind of embarrassing to even say that I wanted to be an actor.
There was nobody telling me, 'You should be an artist,' or, 'You should be an actor.'
I'm a believer in getting punched in the face. I know it sounds cliched, but to me, fighting is a metaphor for life.
I was a wrestler. I played football, lacrosse. After high school, I got into jujitsu. I boxed my whole adult life.
I love 'The Dirty Dozen.'
My friend Liam Neeson has managed to carve out a great place in the industry for himself and is still doing action movies at 64 years old. He's my hero. I use him as a template. My middle kid, Liam, is named after him. He's one of the coolest guys in Hollywood.
I wrestled when I was a kid. That started me off with the discipline, because making weight was my responsibility. It is a team sport, but it is also a solo sport.
Anthony Bourdain is a legend and an inspiration for me.
I have a good work ethic.
Being an actor can be a lonely life.
I grew up with no money. No money. I always struggled and had the sense that there was this other class of people who went to college - this was when I was younger.
What people don't know is that I'm a blackbelt in jujitsu, which I've been for 20 years, and I've been boxing since I've been 15 years old - those are things that come natural to me.
I'm a physical person - I like to get hit.
The things that make me saddest - when I got into my head - if anything were to happen to me, and my wife were to have to go to my kids and say 'Daddy's gone.' Worst thing I could imagine.
The soap opera was so long ago - the thing about soap operas, and there's something to be said for doing it, but you do a script a day. I don't want to say it's a training ground; it really isn't, but what it does teach you is discipline.
'The Outlaw Josey Wales' is one of my top three movies.
A lot of times, especially with TV, I would get these scripts, and I'm like, 'Oh, they want me to be the good-looking guy who's a little bit of a rascal.' It's just boring.
You've got to go out there and do your things. Whatever comes your way, you jump on it, and like anything, that's how you get your experience.
I'm not really enamored by movie stars.
What I look for in a role is the physical. But what's the journey emotionally? Can I take this person who is this archetypal tough guy and find the beauty?
Listen, 'The Purge' actually exists in some form or another in many places around the world when you think about it.
You get spoiled on 'Captain America,' where your trailer's two blocks long and it's got three bedrooms.
My favorite movie is 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' with Clint Eastwood, a guy who gets his family killed by the bad guys then goes on a journey of revenge, eventually discovering himself - very existential.
A film that I love is 'Deliverance' from back in the day. You start out with these archetypal characters - the hero, the bookworm, the pacifist - and by the end, it's all turned upside down. I love that.
I have always been restless. I have always been a seeker. It is one of the reasons that I train as hard as I do and I have studied as many disciplines as I have. I need to be challenged.
I love Charles Bronson. He didn't have a lot of range, and he wasn't a great actor, but you couldn't take your eyes off him.
My parents got married when they were 16, and they never had any money.
I'm not talented.
When I graduated college, I decided that I was going to try to be an actor, but it was my dirty secret.
Coming from immigrant Italian people, the one thing you do is work hard.
I think it just seems like something that somebody else does, like they raise actors somewhere in Ohio, and once in a while, people go and pick their actors and move to Hollywood. It seemed like such a distant idea. But then, as I started growing up, I'm like, 'Oh, this is an occupation.'
When directors like Joe Russo, who understand story from a very global perspective, start working more and more with Chinese filmmakers, you'll start seeing Chinese films that connect with audiences all over Asia, Europe, and South America - maybe even North America.
I find in L.A. that you ask people how they're doing, and the immediate answer is, 'Oh, I'm very busy,' as if busy is the goal.
I don't look like Hollywood Guy. I'm a regular guy.
