Sebastian Stan

When I was younger, it was so much easier. All I needed to do was just get a job. It was like, 'Oh, my God, I have a job! I can call myself a working actor.' But then, the older you get, you have to be more selective, and that's tough.

My first job was in a movie theater. I worked at Cinema 6 in New City, New York. I was an usher. I sold popcorn.

My job as an actor is to just tell the story as best I can from my character's point of view and let the audience decide.

Just to get a job is always really exciting to me. I do feel there's a lot left for me to learn about movies, the subtleties of acting.

To shoot a movie that takes place in three decades in 30 days is a lot on the hair and make-up team.

Sometimes it's okay to give yourself a pat on the back and say, 'That was cool. That made me feel good.'

The things I learned from my parents, what was deeply ingrained in their generation, is this idea of opportunity and the freedom to have an opportunity. The way the United States was thought of is as a place you can have this chance to do anything, to say, 'This is my idea, and I get to offer it to you, and if you like it, I can profit from it.'

I like to be lean and flexible. I'm not interested in gaining size.

When I work on a part, one of the things I love to do is to put together a collage of things, stuff I see or stuff that inspires me, images, whatever.

I've been in so many crazy experiences in my life. I was always moving when I was a kid. When I look back, it's hard for me not to feel that certain things just happen for a reason.

If you're getting abandonment, if you're getting abuse as a child, if you're getting uncertainty when you're a child, unfortunately you tend to look for that in your life later on, and you think that's love.

I live in New York and I love it, because it doesn't make me feel like my life is always just about acting and that world of acting. I don't have expectations.