Eric Stoltz

Eric: (On his feelings when acting) I don't know, the feeling that I get in my stomach. I guess it's that butterflies in your stomach kind of feeling. It's like what I would imagine going on a tightrope would be. You feel a little bit scared, a little bit high and a little bit excited. It's a fun life.

Eric: (On his nude scene in Haunted Summer) I love onscreen nudity, especially if it is someone else that is nude. If it is integral to the story, and to the character then, to me, it is a litmus test of an actor's commitment to a role and ability to rise above his or her or society's hangups about the human body. In Haunted Summer I was playing the poet Shelley, who loved to bathe and swim in the nude. It wouldn't have made much sense for me to be frolicking about under a waterfall in Italy in a waistcoat and boots. Although, I must say, I do enjoy gratuitous nudity as long as it's purely exploitative.

Eric: (On independent films) There's a strange sense of accomplishment in making an independent film. Everything's against you; there's no time, and even less money- you bring a bottle of glue, chip in twenty bucks, and hope you all make it through the day. If you manage to finish it and it actually turns out to be pretty good, it's thrilling.

Eric: (On acting with Cher) Wow...It was great working with Cher. Actually, I get asked that question a lot because Cher is a much wondered about icon. And I gotta say, she was a delight to work with. An absolute delight. I mean, when you see Cher, that's what she's like. She says what she thinks. She's honest, she's straightforward, and she's talented. And I think people respond to that. I certainly did.

Eric: (On what movies he gets recognised from) Well, it depends. You know, the sort of dissolute teenagers and the hipper crowd, it's usually Pulp Fiction they peg me from. For little girls it's Little Women. For a certain-aged woman, it's from Some Kind of Wonderful. It's something different each time.

Eric: (On his perfect day) My perfect day is constantly changing. Right now, it would be to lie around in a hammock reading with a portable phone and a table of food next to it. I would spend all day there. And that's all that I can possibly come up with on the spur of the moment.

Eric: (On the film Mr. Jealousy) Well, I read the script, and it made me laugh. And it's so rare to not only want to finish reading a script - because most scripts are dreadful - but that I actually laughed out loud, to the point where I was disturbing the people around me. So I thought to do this film would be fun.

Eric: Yoko [Ono] was the sweetest woman I have ever had the privilege of hanging around on a video set with.

Eric: (On what role he always wanted but never got) I was up for Michael Corleone in The Godfather, but, as I was only 10 at the time, I think Mr. Coppola made the right choice. The Julia Roberts role in Pretty Woman held a bizarre allure for me. But, it's silly to look back with regret...

Eric: (On his pets) I have several dogs and several cats who aren't really mine. In fact, they think that I am theirs. I'd like to have some goats and chickens, but I travel around too much.