I figured he'd be like a genius, because he is. He’s very, very subtle and nuanced. It’s very much in the eyes. That’s how it is in real life. He’s such a great actor. I was just amazed that I got the chance to work with him.

When I did the audition, I already felt that this role was just sitting right in my skin, I don’t know why. This movie and character were different from anything I’ve done in my career before

I knew it had the potential to be something special right away. It was like meeting somebody that I've just known where you just recognize one another. It was so disproportionate, the level of emotion we were experiencing to the time we had spent together.

When I first saw it the first time, when I first saw him I felt... I felt upset. He's so good in the movie. He's incredible in it. It's so difficult to talk about. It's not an easy thing to sum up. I think he's great. Being around someone, acting with someone like that, is really inspiring and fun. It's very difficult to talk about. This isn't really the place where you open your heart up.

I was unaware really of the importance of it at the time, but I was asked to go for an interview, which I did, and I was the first person that Mick Jackson saw for the part. And I went looking rather radical, because I thought "oh, it's about nuclear war", you know, and I'm a very radical person, so I kind of went wearing my sort of "combat gear" which was very "in" at the time. And it was really strange, because afterwords, when I got the part of Ruth, who turned out to be a very fragile sort of a person, I was surprised and he said having been the first one, he saw me for the part. He obviously saw something in me that was, I don't know, vulnerable, maybe. It was the only time I've ever said to a director "I would really like a part in this, regardless of what that part may be", because I knew that the content would be close to my heart.

It was exciting. The idea of having this character, who had been so much to so many people. And none of that was based on his sexual orientation,
And just to reveal that he is a gay man, and that in no way changes his relationships with any of these people, anything that he’s done. Sometimes it’s amazing to have the stories where the character is finding themselves, but then it’s also incredibly important to have the stories where this character is fully formed, and he’s a gay man, and he’s doing amazing things. And he’s flawed, and he has his own problems. That was why I loved the idea of having Shiro be our representation.

When you pre­record you're married to that emotion, that delivery. I like the rawness, the honesty of being in the moment.

I tried the gloves on, and it just felt so natural. From that moment I became so embedded in boxing. I found a friend in boxing.

I wanted something that was direct – right to you eye .. ..something you didn't have to look around – you got the whole thing right away.

The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart.

When I saw him, I was like, wow! He is different and so tall and dark and just handsome. I saw the package — and I mean the whole package, literally. I was like, "That is a man."

Got under my skin because I knew she would be so fantastic to play. I mean, morally, everything this woman did and stood for is so the polar opposite of what I believe in and who I am. And of course, this wouldn't necessarily have my name written all over it...and that's what made it so amazing.

You know, it's tough when you have to wait around for other people to write something for you, because there's no precedent for someone who looks like you to play certain characters, right? So it's such a unique character that I've been dying to see and put on camera for a long time, that [Park] plays. And that's something for me that's really personal.

To see strong acting like this is exhilarating. In a time of flashy directors who slice and dice their films in a dizzy editing rhythm, it is important to remember that films can look and listen and attentively sympathize with their characters. Directors grow great by subtracting, not adding, and Eastwood does nothing for show, everything for effect.