[asked by People magazine what rock star he liked as a child] One of my bigger crushes was Eve. I loved her 'cause she was kind of hard. I love those tattoos.

Passion is number one and trust is number two. You need to start with a passionate connection, and if you can maintain it and cultivate it, that's most important. Then trust can develop.

[talking about getting into character to play Jeff Buckley] At that time I was falling madly in love in a way that was changing me and opening me up. And it was an integral part of playing Jeff. Technically, I could probably play guitar and sing better now because I have a year of consistent experience under my belt, but, at the time, I was kind of going through what Jeff was going through emotionally in the movie in the sense that the worlds of music and love and women and art were opening up to me. Honestly I needed it. It was like this cosmic intervention where, if you're going to play somebody like Jeff you've got to at least be in love, you know? And being in love, real, true, earth-shattering love - even though it sounds hyperbolic I really was going through it - helped me be as good as I could be. For me, this movie is a beautiful step forward. Gossip Girl has given me everything that I have now. It gave me the opportunity to live in New York and to be in a position to get this role. It also put me in New York City so I could meet Zoe.

I would say, it is a huge commitment to make. I mean it's amazing that someone chooses to do this for a living and I would encourage it no matter who you are but I think that you just have to realize that it's a life commitment the same way that someone might commit themselves to becoming a lawyer or a doctor. You know, you go to law school for seven years, I had been in LA for eight years. I feel like that is the equivalent of you know, paying your dues. It's a lot of work and you can't really treat it casually if you really want to succeed but it is the best job there is, I think. So if you can do it, I would say, go right ahead.

I couldn't date someone who didn't like dogs. There are exceptions to the rule, but I find that if someone doesn't like animals, I am a little suspicious of them.

I want to be an actor. I don't want to be a celebrity. They are two different things and people have forgotten that they are different.

I had actually told my agent at one time, 'If someone ever makes a Jeff Buckley movie, I have to do it'. I felt that it called for a person that hears this music and is deeply, deeply moved more than just someone who is able to look like him, or play like him, or sing like him.

[on the advantage of fame] I've had some fun nights. But I learned early on that that stuff is never satisfying in the end. There's a reason the French call the moment of orgasm la petite mort, "the little death." No matter how good the moment was, the moment after is always revealing.

[on marriage] Yeah. Eventually. I want the ceremony. I want the bond.

[on what he wish he had been told as a teen] I wish I had known that vulnerability is universal for everyone, regardless of how cool or not cool they are. You have such a heightened awareness of yourself, so even small things seem life-changing - a bad day turns into, 'Oh my gosh, my life is over.' If I were still a teen, I would want to hear: 'It's okay. Take a deep breath and move on,'"

I've written a song for every woman I've been with.