oh man this is hard because, well, i totally realize that if we’re going with objective quality he’s not always the best??

he has this quality about him that makes me want to immediately engage with and invest in whatever character he’s playing, every time. 

i think he’s fiercely honest as a storyteller. sometimes this results in decisions that make me cover my eyes and start muttering ‘ken, sweetie, was that really necessary??’ (i mean, have you SEEN the last 20 minutes of his hamlet??), but i always feel like it comes from a place of deep, unabashed emotion. dude is really bad at artifice. i always end up feeling like his thought process goes something like: ‘i have a lot of emotions about this and i’m going to illustrate that in big broad strokes because, frankly, what’s wrong with that?’ 

i find him personally inspiring because he decides on things and then barrels through whatever adversity until he gets them done. that’s something i really struggle with in terms of my own creative energies, so it’s helpful to remind myself that somebody who isn’t embarrassed to have big sweeping overwhelming feelings about stories can go out and make art happen.

he’s made some really excellent films and given some really excellent performances and he’s also been in some seriously unrepentantly SHIT films (oh god wild wild west is 2 hours of my life that would have been better spent watching paint dry) but his commitment and enthusiasm never seems to waver. 

he just seems like somebody who’s response to the world is YES YES YES AND…! and that just makes me feel positively about him as an artist and as a person.

also i find him ludicrously fucking attractive.