Ansel Elgort

My dad grew up in Washington Heights. I grew up in New York in Manhattan. So we're purebred New Yorkers.

My dad's a photographer. So I suppose he named me Ansel just in case I would take over the family business. I guess I failed him.

I love Marlon Brando and James Dean. That was when it was all about the star and the script. Nowadays, everything has to be action-packed.

I'm starting to get a following on Twitter. That's a really awesome power to have. It gives me the opportunity to make any kind of art I want.

Most actors nowadays are models turned actors. That's why a lot of young actors are terrible. You have to learn how to act. It is not something that you can just do.

I have a lot of weird interests, but everything I do is artistic.

I write music because I love it. Sometimes more than anything in the world.

My dad was always taking photos of us at home, and even on set - he'd bring us along and stick us in the photos in the background. It was almost the beginning of acting for me, like, 'Hey, you go over there and play basketball in the background, and don't even think about the camera.'

From an early age, I understood the concept that, if you're not the star, then your job is to not pull attention away from the star.

A lot of high school students on TV and in Broadway are played by people in their late 20s and even early 30s. That seems weird to me.

As an actor, you want a director who makes you feel comfortable in a place that you can really create and try a lot of different things.

I like strong women. Physical women.

I think it's important I stay connected to every part of my personality. I play basketball. I rock climb. I paint. I'm a little bit scattered, but it's so I can convincingly play all these characters.

I don't want to just fall back on the fact that I was on the cover of 'GQ' for being an actor.

I'm a total goof. When I'm being really comfortable with my friends, I can be very goofy.

When I was in lower school, I graduated from fourth grade, and the principal gave us a summer assignment to take a 30-minute reflection period every day. And, of course, there were no cell phones at the time. She said to just think. And that's lost. It doesn't exist anymore. Just imagine being on a couch and just thinking.

It's important to be a divergent musician and do a little bit of everything, except you have to make sure your fans are aware of it and that you string them along the right way.

Picture-taking is an ensemble art - like theater.

I would like to do more independent films.

I think if you only work, then you won't have a life. It's tough to have a life when you're working a lot.