On Not being interested bed-hopping antics like his character Casanova:

I take great pride in my soul and the consistency and longevity of my love, and I think

everyone can fantasize about the notion of being a Casanova, or experiment that way when they are younger,

but I'm certainly not in that place now at this moment in my life."

eitb24, 05 September 2005

I think in order to mature as a person and mature as an actor, you need to push yourself and test yourself and do things you're afraid of.

The Advocate Magazine

December 2005

 I'm having a child in a month or so, and the timing couldn't be better because there's all this hype and excitement about this movie. I've got a lot of films that I'm promoting right now, and it's all so insignificant in comparison to meeting my child.

The Advocate

December 2005

"Australians are the world's greatest at cutting you down to size, and I'd better not forget it. I just have to remember not to take myself too seriously."

Contact Music.com

07 December 2005

" I'm the worst auditioner, really, really bad. I mean, you're being judged and I'm just so aware of it that it consumes me. I can't relax, I'm tied in knots, so the voice is very taut and tense. You're so aware that you're acting 'cause you're sitting across from this lady with a piece of paper who's going, ''I'm. Going. To. Shoot. You. If. You. Don't. Blah, blah, blah,'' in this emotionless voice.

It's foul. I hate it."

EW.com, May 2001

On growing up with his mom & sisters:

" I learned respect for women, and patience.

You grow up with all those women around you . . .

you learn to wait your turn."

Cosmopolitan magazine, June 1998

" I don't have a technique. I've never been a believer in having one set technique on how to act. There are no rules and there is no rulebook. At the end of the day, it all comes down to my instincts. That's the one thing that guides me through every decision professionally. Socially, also.

That's my technique.

 Reel.com, May 2001

" I want to keep that all my life-the choice to say no.

I'm in control of my life, not anyone in Hollywood ...

I only do this because I'm having fun.   The day I stop having fun, I'll just

walk away.

Vanity Fair, 01 August 2000

" I don't have a method to my madness...For me, acting is more about self-exploration. I've learned a lot about myself in order to learn about the craft. How many kings can you find to play a king? You can't find them.  When I act, I look at it as if I'm a mixing board in a sound studio. The pattern on the board is me. When I play a character, I go, ' I'll turn these knobs down and these ones up.'  But in order to do that I have to know myself like an instrument.   I'm just a saxophone." 

Vanity Fair, 01 August 2000
 

" The last few years I've been doing a lot of print artwork.

I blow up prints, black and white prints generally, and I scratch away on the surface. Then I paint on the prints and I scratch away and then paint on the paper underneath."

A KNIGHT'S TALE INTERVIEW by PAUL FISCHER in Los Angeles

On his preference for doing film over TV:

" I prefer to have the time to busy

the canvas, select the paint, and create a masterpiece,

rather than doing a comic book."

" I don't see why it's such a hard thing NOT to keep grounded, and keeping grounded is just a way of saying: ' How do you stay yourself?  How do you NOT change into ANOTHER person?'

 I find it hard to, like, CHANGE into another person. I don't want to and I don't feel the need to have to fill shoes and live up to expectations and be worried about people judging me, but who gives a shit? I DON'T. What I'M worried about is MY personal life, my friends and family, and THAT doesn't change. And as long as that doesn't change, I don't change."

A KNIGHT'S TALE INTERVIEW by PAUL FISCHER in Los Angeles

On the dreaded paparazzi:

" It makes front page news if you eat fettuccine on Tuesday, you know? It's very invading. All of a sudden you're very self-aware, very self-conscious about the way you drink water.   I'm not used to that."

The Globe and Mail, May 5, 2001

On why he felt no need to go to college or acting school:

" You know, because the one thing that's got me to where I'm sitting is my instincts, you know, and I'm impatient. I didn't want to wait for years to work.  I wanted to just

get out there and do it."

60 Minutes Australia, August 12, 2001

" I don't care what people write about me, good or bad, I don't listen to it. It's opinion. There are no facts and I'm not about to prove myself to anyone-audiences, critics, anyone. It's my life, my career, my choices and my instincts.  Where they lead me, that's up to me."

Next Magazine, Boogie Knight by Tony Phillips (2001)

On what he inherited from his mother:

Sensitivity and acceptance.

She's a very warm, caring woman.

by Mary Black, Dolly magazine

             01 May 2001

On turning down teen scripts after 10 Things:

I just wanted to protect my career, I guess. 

What I discovered after that was people in Hollywood can't hear "no".

They don't like to hear "no".

And so I had a lot of fun saying "no" for a year. . . .

 But you know, look, the last five months of that hard-to-get period

just flipped around.   It was like, "Come on, employ me."

On his hometown:

". . . to me Perth is paradise. Nothing but blue skies and blue ocean for miles.   No other place in the world can compare to my hometown. It's Eden on earth.

If my career stopped tomorrow I would be content to go back there,

spending my time sitting on the beach  and surfing with my mates."

(2000)