I thought acting was what grownups did. It was such a part of my childhood. I was already in love with performing before I knew there were other options. By then, it was too late.

I dont think Paul Thomas Anderson has a standard approach to anything.

I've never had to talk about my work, nobody's given a damn about it - you know, what I thought. I find that I sort of like that, to get to keep it to myself. It's a bit bizarre.

I didn’t find it difficult to live in the “Inherent Vice” world or play those scenes, because they just seemed so real.

I look back at my adolescence, and Im shocked at the things I did that were my idea of adult behavior.

What I love about the way they both [Paul Thomas Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix] work is that all of the monkey business is on film. There's no monkey business outside of the monkey business of making the movie. There's no ego bullshit, there's no wasted energy. It's all directed at the story and that's rare.

Costume design is so important and really helpful, and I really love that aspect of character development, just figuring it out.

It's weird. I feel like people assume if a character is very different than you, that means it's difficult to get into their head or into their skin.

So when things start going badly, you're invested in the characters in a way I think amplifies the horror and the fear because you're invested.

Seeing someone happy on set is just a very small slice of the reality of an actor's life.

I find life so shocking in general. Everything about it surprises me.