The lead actor, along with the director, plays a big role in what the vibe will be on set, and that's a huge responsibility.

A lot of child actors keep acting for the wrong reasons.

When you're on TV and in people's houses - it's great that anybody watches anything you've done, but you feel as though you're being watched by Big Brother sometimes. Even if people have no idea who you are, you get the feeling you're being watched.

I once had a small role in one of my own plays, a thriller which happened to become a big hit on the West Coast. Its run was extended month after month and thus for over a year I found myself living the life of a stage actor: eight shows a week, with only one day off, a day dedicated solely to recovering from the five-show weekend I'd just turned in.

As the lead of a movie, you really set the tone off-camera as well, and that's a really big responsibility.

I don't really have disappointments, because I build myself up for rejection.