Chris (On fame): If the worst thing that happens in your
life is that you're asked the same question repeatedly for a month, and
people look very interested while they're talking to you and wanting to
know about you, think about every day you worked at that restaurant and
every day you worked as a delivery man for Domino's, every day you were
a host, every day you were a bartender and worked until 4 a.m. And then
just be very grateful.
Chris (on how luck changed his life): Yeah, my career
is a great example. I took part in a theatre festival in Massachusetts two
summers after I graduated from college. Then I was in Los Angeles thinking,
“I am going to go to New York.” I had decided that I would not
have a chance of a film career, so I was about to make the move. I bought
a plane ticket and found a place to live in New York, packed my bags and
of course the universe ‘told me’ that I was not meant to go.
Suddenly a week before I was supposed to leave, I had three job offers and
one of them was my first movie. I think that when you let go and ‘throw
it all away’ and stop getting attached and say “whatever happens,
happens”, you don’t invest too much in anything particular,
and things work out. As an actor, it is easy to be so self-critical, saying
to yourself, “Am I good enough? Am I good looking enough? Am I smart
enough?” Yet here I am, so I am lucky.
Chris (on preparing for fame after Just My Luck): No I
don’t think about it. I know the Just My Luck posters are around town
and if it happens, I hope I deal with it well with certain relativity, because
this is not brain science we are dealing with, this is make believe. I hope
I can just enjoy it.
Chris (on getting used to seeing himself on screen): I
look at myself and say, “I can’t believe my head’s that
big. Thank God my hair doesn’t look like a bird’s nest.”
I am critical of myself like everyone else. You go to a movie theatre and
you are forty feet high. I had bad skin as a teenager and I am a shy person,
but I think I am in the perfect business to fight my insecurities. You have
to learn to love yourself and say, “I am pretty cool” instead
of being so critical. You can easily fall into the trap of doing that.
Chris (when asked about being well known after Princess Diaries
2): I really don’t get recognized much. But there was one
experience in an airport with two kids, when the little girl said, “Princess
Diaries!” and freaked out, but I still have anonymity, it’s
great. I go out anywhere I want, no one ever recognizes me.
Chris (when he landed the role in Just My Luck): When
I got the job I thought about her a lot. Not only was I getting a great
job in a really good movie, but it was with Lindsay Lohan. She is so famous
and I don’t have any of that.
Chris (on his outlook in life): The more you are positive
and say “I want to have a good life,” the more you build that
reality for yourself; by creating the life that you want. It is not always
the case that things will fall into your lap or that life will be great,
but it is all about perspective and having a positive outlook. If something
goes wrong, you say, “That happened for a reason, what can I learn
from that and how can I grow?”
Chris (on what to do on a first date): I am pretty conventional,
I was raised by a strict mother who said, “Be sure to open doors and
say please thank you and pull up the chair.” So I would take her for
a great dinner with good ambience, low lighting, great food and a good bottle
of wine. I like to be inquisitive and ask a lot of questions. I am not an
ironic dating guy; I don’t say, “Let’s go bowling."
Chris (when asked if he would be attracted to himself if he were
a girl): Of course, I was always so humble and shy and self critical
as a kid. Now I am more confident and yeah I am a great guy, I have a lot
going for me and I think anybody would be lucky to have me.
Chris (on kissing Lindsay Lohan): It could not be more
artificial, but she was great and we laughed about it. It did feel awkward
but we got into the rhythm of it. She was a great kisser, she has great
big lips and she is gorgeous.
Chris (if he believes in luck): Yes sure, I believe in
luck and fate and I believe in karma, that the energy you put out in the
world comes back to meet you. So if you have positive good energy, hopefully
good things will come to you from the universe.
Chris (on his role in Princess Diaries 2): I am like my
character in that, I guess, I like to push buttons a little bit sometimes
and maybe I go too far. My sister would certainly say that. But, yeah, I
guess there's a certain… I try to be suave. It doesn't always work
out. Hopefully, I'm not as arrogant.
Chris: (on his fantasy film roles) If I could've been
Brando in Streetcar (Named Desire) or Brando in On the Waterfront.
Chris (on 'Jake' in Just My Luck): Everyone can relate
to Jake--that part of us that's insecure, blaming the heavens for everything
that doesn't go right in your life--but he's a well-meaning, nice guy. It
was fun to play Jake--the physical comedy was great.
Chris: I'd love to work with P.T. Anderson. And Scorsese.
Chris (about using an English accent): Ever since I saw
Sexy Beast I've been trying to get the cockney thing down.
Chris (about why he wore glasses in The Princess Diaries 2): I
know, everybody has been asking that. I tried but it was so dry that winter
that my eyes got really red and that doesn't look too sexy on camera. I
had to take them out and just pop eye drops all the time and kind of learn
how to act without seeing.
Chris: ...I like those darker, guys-with-many-colors sort
of roles.
"Moscow"
