Take every job. Learn everybody's name. Show up early. Know who you are and know who you're not. Stop dreaming and start trying.

If someone asked for advice on being an actor I'd say Don't. It's a hard life. And if they walked away I'd be happy to have spared them years of misery.

Abraham Lincoln was a melancholy man, so he had a dark side that appeals to horror fans.

Abraham Lincoln is resolute, honest, has the best interest of the nation at heart, and he's as ugly as homemade Sunday sin, so he is modest, too. I'd vote for that in an undead heartbeat.

Abraham Lincoln is the guy who could never be elected today, but whom we desperately wish we could elect.

Lincoln is me. He is America. He is what makes us a great nation and a dangerous nation, all wrapped up in one man.

I love swimming in the darker seas, so even if I play a noble guy (well, like Lincoln for instance) I am pre-disposed to try and show the conflict the regret the less-than-perfect choices that any human faces. That's what I like and it seems to be what the camera likes to see me do.

I want to be Lon Chaney. I want to be Karloff. I want to help people escape the mundane world. I want to make their skins crawl. And I want them to love it every bit as much as I do.