Giovanni Ribisi

(on playing a mentally challenged character in The Other Sister) Giovanni Ribisi: I didn't have to do a whole lot of work on the character. I'm just kiddin'.

(on his first TV role, a guest spot in Highway to Heaven) Giovanni Ribisi: I played a cancer patient and it was kind of weird, because I was nine years old. I was forming an identity. I had to shave my head and there was part of me that thought it was kind of cool, but at the same time, there were people asking, "Are you OK?"

(on his attitude about marriage when he was a teen) Giovanni Ribisi: I thought marriage was something the Egyptians invented to prevent the spread of venereal disease.

(on what draws him to the roles he chooses) Giovanni Ribisi: If I had to choose criteria, for me, it's about first the director. I want to be a part of something that's good and intellectually challenging. After the director it's the character and the story. That's the deal for me. Oh, and the cast. It's important to know you're going to be working with people who want to work and who aren't just going to be phoning things in.

(on working in a blue room for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) ) Giovanni Ribisi: It's actually so arid – the paint is called Video Paint Blue, the color – and it actually dehydrates you. There is no visual stimulus at all, and you are just constantly trying to concentrate, so it sort of drains you a little bit.

Giovanni Ribisi: I've been allowed to grow over the past twenty years. I've managed to avoid being trapped in one moment of my career and for that, I'm very thankful.

Giovanni Ribisi: What's sad is that there is an addictive quality to that, to believing your own hype; to allowing yourself to become validated by others and no longer by yourself. That's the danger of celebrity.

Giovanni Ribisi: It was extremely useful to grow up in front of the camera. It gives the camera no significance. I think it helped me have perspective on things. The attraction that Hollywood can have, I feel like I'm over that. Instead I just concentrate on acting.

Giovanni: My mother told me I was begging her to be an actor when I was four. My father and my grandfather saw at least one or two movies a week; they were film buffs, so I guess it just rubbed off on me. And now its kind of become a way of life for me. I could almost say it is my religion. I guess that sounds pretentious, but I want to live and breathe cinema.

Giovanni: For me acting is all about aesthetic. I just want to keep honing my craft. Not that I'm taking myself too seriously, but every artist should consider himself Picasso. Otherwise your just doing yourself injustice.