How good were you at changing the baby in "Home at the End of the World?"
Oh, I was terrible at changing [her]. Every time I held that little girl, she [wailed]. I f***ing sh** myself. It's different when it's yours though. Instinct kicks in or something.
Were you surprised they came to you with this kind of project?
They didn't. I went to them. I called them up and I read for it.
You’ve done a few smaller roles this year. Is it because you’re getting tired of blockbusters?
There's a sense that…I don't know what there's a sense of. After “S.W.A.T.,” yeah, I mean I definitely wanted that. I mean, “'S.W.A.T” was four and a half months. I definitely wanted to do something else that would just challenge myself a little bit more. And I got a chance to work on “Intermission” and it was being shot in Dublin with a bunch of Irish actors and I was licking my lips at the prospect of it. So I got a chance to do one of the 12 parts in that. This one came along, and I don't know if I did this one before “S.W.A.T.” or after? F***. I don't know. Whenever this came along though, I just loved it when I read it. I just loved it when I read it. I really adored it. Then I knew I was going to do “Alexander” as well, which is like the motherf***er of all motherf***ers.
Would you like to continue that balance of big roles and smaller films?
I, for the first time, realized in life that I'm in a fortunate enough position, by and large, that I can actually pick and chose. There's no way that I can pick any f***ing script in the world and go, “I want to do that,” because there are people out there that always doubt whether I can. For those people I'll always read. I'll never not audition for them, ever. But yeah, look, I've realized as well after five years of being on the road that if I'm going to four or five months of my life to something even if I'm overpaid, it's four or five months of my life away from home, away from my son, away from family and friends. I better believe in it on some level even if it's a big movie. I better believe in it on some level. I've got to think that it's a story that people would be entertained by, and that I'll have a good time on and be challenged doing it. A story that people's hearts will be broken by and that I can learn more about myself doing it, or whatever the f*** case may be.
Last year your mother said she worries you smoke too much and drink too much… Have you slowed down any?
I don't know, man. I don't know. The only reason people say anything about my smoking is because I'm an actor. If I wasn’t, there'd be no one around me going “Oh my God.” Do you know what I mean? It's because I'm an actor and I have a beer and I say, “This is my day off. I'm not shooting today. I'm not working on a film. This is my f***ing day off.” But in respect to what I think my work is, you know, if I ever come and [slur], then fine, but that's bulls***. It is. I mean, there's too many people's hard work on the line. But I don't. On my day off, I might have a few beers, but my mother is proud of me. She's always been proud of me, man.
Does she read the stuff written about you?
She does, and she puts half of the sh** in her scrap book.
In the film, your character never wanted to be left alone. Have you ever felt that way?
Oh, no. Oh contraire. I'm fortunate enough to have what I have and so there are times when I go, “F***. I need to have some space.”
How about before you were famous?
No. I've always been kind of the same. I always kind of like being on [my] own. I've also loved company and going out in groups. Bobby, that's one thing with him. He's not even aware of it as an Achilles or a neediness. He just doesn't want to be on his own ever. He's stared loneliness in the face when his whole family died around him.
Do you try and balance your personal life and career more these days?
Not really. I mean, again, maybe I should be thinking more into the future. But I dare not think too far into the future on the risk that I'll miss the present. I don't want to. The present is pretty good. I'm working hard. I have a beautiful son, and as long as I can be with him and as long as he always knows where his dad is, and I can go work as well, I'm fine.
Has fatherhood changed you?
I don't know, man. Again, it's just not like a major metamorphosis. The first time you hold your baby in your arms, I mean, a sense of strength and love washes over you. It washed over me and I never thought that possible. Maybe I thought it was possible, but I thought that it was possible for my mother and father to me. But I mean, I love him in a different way and in a stronger way than I love my mother. It's a very strange thing. I mean, I adore my mother and she's everything to me. But it's a very strange love, and very beautiful love and very pure love, unconditional to the extreme. How it's changed me? I don't know.
PAGE 3: On "Alexander" and Oliver Stone
