Wes Bentley

I always think about stuff I learned, in any scene. Juilliard taught me a lot.

I'd like to play a guy who doesn't think so much. I'd like a character whose words come out before he thinks about it. I want a character who is just kind of dumb in that way. A guy who doesn't have too many dangerous, devious ideas. It would be fun to play a role like that.

My imagination was really hyperactive as a child and animated. I had those elements, but as you live and go through the hardships, it fades. 'Pete's Dragon' reawakened that. It rekindled the feeling of the invisible dragon.

I am aware of my film habits because I have for so long played guys who are darker or dealing with very complex issues, and they're dealing with their darker sides.

Everywhere you turn in New Zealand, there's something exciting to do. It's the gem of the world. It's so far away from the madness, and so you get that element. It was just stunning.

It's all in the writing. The writing has got to be there. Whether that's dialogue or character, or whatever, it doesn't matter. As long as they've done something special, than you can do something special.

As far as the creative side, the more I do this, the more I know that it's all about the writing. We don't always celebrate that enough, but without the writing, you can't do much. You got on a film sometimes, and it's sort of half-written, and they expect and think that the actor's job is to bring the extra part and the good part. It's not.

A lot of actors will complain about the green screen work, but what you do get to do is what you probably should have learned, from the beginning, on stage. You have to create it in your mind and really go there to bring it. Part of the fun of acting is those challenges. You feel goofy, but sometimes that's a good feeling.

Being in New Zealand, which is incredibly beautiful - I think it's paradise - it's just the perfect place. Everything about it I love, and I would love to live there.

A lot of actors like to get themselves worked up, and I think from what I saw from Mr. Redford, he goes the other way. He relaxes into it.

As an actor, you always want to reach back to being a child and having the spontaneity and the imagination of a child.

I went in and read for 'Maleficent,' and it was hard to get a concept of what the imagery would be like. So you have a hard time seeing how you'll fit in to the movie through the visuals.

The first year at Juilliard is, I think, the best. And partly why I left - I only went one year. Partly why I felt okay leaving is that the most important elements, I believe, happen in the first year. What they do is they tear down all your conceptions of acting, and they take away all your tricks that you've learned.

But as a kid, I loved 'Monty Python.' My Dad was a devout watcher. We used to watch it when we ate dinner!

Sometimes when you're doing fantasy, that's the most important thing, is to be a blank space, because the last thing you want to do ever as an actor is judge yourself or the character or the movie that you're in. You want to just play the moment as best you can. Juilliard helped me do that.

Whenever I am applying myself to something, I can't help but be part of it.

I live to experience different things. Part of what I love about acting is to live the lives of others.

Growing up, I could never decide what I wanted to be because I wanted to be so many things.

I wanted fame, but I thought it would be incremental, and I became afraid of the overnight-sensation thing.

After 'Four Feathers,' I quit then because I just lost faith. I didn't like how the business was.

I didn't know anything about Opus Die except from pop culture, like Dan Brown novels, which I knew wasn't really knowing anything about Opus Die.

I still consider myself a very spiritual person but the structure of the church isn't really for me.

Both my parents are Methodist preachers, I grew up in a church.

You treat characters like people you meet in life-friends or mentors.

A reflection of an exact image is the closest thing to you-so that you can see it-but it's far enough away so that you really understand it. There is real life in this movie, but it hovers just an inch above reality.