I like to build houses.

There's something that comes into you that's so exciting when you're directing.

It's astounding to me that in a country where there is an ever-growing divide between rich and poor, that people won't accept the need for regulation on banks and salaries and so on.

The idea of taking classic American stories and reinterpreting them for a time and place is not just commercially viable. These stories also carry a sensual nature of what it meant to be an American, and they deserve to be reinterpreted.

Westerns give people a chance to see wide-open spaces and life before technology took over.

'The Virginian' has a very important romantic story line that you don't find in a lot of Westerns... At the heart of the story is quite a bit of pain and a sense of loss.

It's funny: When I first heard they were thinking of me for the president in 'Independence Day,' I just assumed it was a comedy - I didn't exactly think of myself as leader-of-the-free-world material.

I'm a very discriminating shoe shopper. I only look for something special. In fact, I don't think I've ever bought two pairs at the same time.

There is a bearing which comes from having a little bit of something withheld. In acting classes, they always say don't reveal 100 percent: it's much more interesting.

Some of the shoes I have are from movies - I have my workman's boots from 'While You Were Sleeping' - while others are shoes I've had forever.