The bitterest truth is better than the sweetest lie.

[Pawn Sacrifice is] about the 1972 chess championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. I play Paul Marshall.It was a great story of a very peculiar man, another genius who's troubled and lived an interesting life. I had great fun making that.

To see those two characters [Steve Jobs and Andy Hertzfeld ] juxtaposed against each other shows an interesting dynamic of how gifted people might function differently in the world.

I got to meet Andy [Hertzfeld], and he sort of opened his life to me. He showed me Palo Alto and we had food together and I met his wife and saw his home. We talked a lot about his experiences, and I just tried to absorb as much about him as I could.

I've found in my own life, if you try to struggle against what the universe is telling you, you set yourself up for more of a battle.

Things never go the way you expect them to. That's both the joy and frustration in life. I'm finding as I get older that I don't mind, though. It's the surprises that tickle me the most, the things you don't see coming.

I was raised in a reform synagogue. I think we all bring with us a sense of when hard things happen to us, we find ourselves asking questions of why are these things happening to me at this time in my life. I think in that sense, there's a certain resonance that I carry. It's more of a spiritual resonance as opposed to particularly of Judaism.

I think Aaron [Sorkin] did a remarkable job of plucking Andy [Hertzfeld] out of [Steve] Jobs' story, to perhaps reflect back on Steve a sense of maybe some things that were missing in Steve's life. Andy, just by nature, is one of these straight shooters.

I'm always trying to remember that kindness goes a long, long way. I think that's something that people will definitely take out of this film as well.

I think the theater work and the on-camera work feed off each other. My theater work has become more simple, and my on-camera work has become more energized or more spontaneous.

The next film I have is called Miles Ahead, which is about Miles Davis, during a five-year period in his life during which he's struggling to figure out which direction to go musically and in his life. I play a record executive who's there to try to get Miles to collaborate with one of my clients. I'm excited to see that.

I wanted to be a cartoonist. I was one of those kids who sat around and drew in my room all the time.

My mom and my dad are ebullient people, and I think I carry that with me.

I love a sense of humor, I love intelligence, I love specificity, I love surprises. I'm inspired to get out of bed in the morning and fill my day with good things.

Andy [Hertzfeld], just by nature, is one of these straight shooters. A very moral guy, kind of an open book. Along with being brilliant and one of the original members of the Macintosh team, he has a really generous spirit.