Quotes

(on The Romantics (2010)) I didn't like it at first. I didn't. Because when I first read the script, I said, "I don't like any of these characters." I really didn't. I just thought it was a bunch of selfish people who were making much bigger deals of their problems than they really were. But then I read it again, and I liked it much better because it felt like it was really kind of a reflection of what people are anyway - what friends are like, what groups of friends and family are like. We're all dysfunctional. We're all messed up in some way.

[on working with Julianne Hough in Safe Haven (2013)] I championed Julianne for this film because I knew she was hungry, a hard worker, sweet and down-to-earth. On a movie like this, where everything depends upon the connection between the two people, there can't be any hang-ups. And with her there are none. She is who she is. It made it easy to open up to her, and for her to open up to me.

[on developing his character for Safe Haven (2013)] I was on the beach with with a pencil and paper and a little journal. I wanted to make very clear what relationship was with my wife, the one that passed away, even though I didn't have any scenes with her in the movie. It was important that I knew our history before I ever got into anything else with any of the characters. So I did a lot of writing about how we met.

When I was a kid, I dreamed about fame, you know, how cool it would be to be in a movie and to be on television. I thought about certain movie roles or certain lines from movies by myself in the shower and thought I could do that someday. But I never really believed that I ever had a chance.

[on marriage] You have to like the person that you are with, not just love them, but actually really like them. I really do like my wife a lot. She's funny. She's fun. She's very kind, very generous and thoughtful - all those things that you hope for. I think that we both grew up with similar backgrounds, believe it or not. Our parents are both former teachers, Catholic. We didn't have a lot growing up. I don't think either one of us takes our lives, our blessings, for granted.

Women are really scrutinized ... men not so much. It's tough to be a woman in entertainment. ... I've seen them be cruel to my wife [singer Fergie] and to me she's the most beautiful thing out there. ... I wish that women were more celebrated for being curvy and round and looking natural and not rail thin. The truth is: Guys like them better when they're not super-skinny. ... Even for men, it's all about youth.