Matt Dillon aspires to "follow his own path" in Hollywood

In a cover interview with Parade magazine, he said: "... I don't know how else to do it. l only know how to be true to myself.

"I mean, there are times when I wish I were more ambitious about this or that. But you have to follow your own path. It's what I aspire to do."

The only time the actor-and-director has paid attention to reviews of his work was when he helmed the Cuban flick 'El Gran Fellove', released in 2020, a documentary about Cuban scat musician Francisco Fellove.

He said: "I directed a movie called 'El Gran Fellove' about a Cuban scat singer named Francisco Fellove as he was making his last record. I actually began filming it in 1999, and I'm so proud of it. I don't usually read reviews because nobody wants to read something negative, but this was different. That's finally your vision up there on the screen."

Meanwhile, Dillon previously revealed he almost turned down a lead role in 'The House That Jack Built' because he was uncomfortable with a particular torture scene.

The 59-year-old actor played the titular serial killer Jack, who refers to himself as 'Mr. Sophistication', in Lars von Trier's 2018 movie but considered walking away from the project because of a sequence in which his alter ego binds and gags Jacqueline (Riley Keough) and cuts off her breasts with a knife.

He recalled: "I almost didn't do the movie because of that scene - it was hard for me to even go there in my mind. It wasn't because of the violence, it was because of the degradation, the way he talked to her."

Dillon confessed that he was apprehensive about watching the horror film back with director Lars.

He told The Guardian newspaper: "Lars was really insistent that he wanted me to watch it with him. I was like, 'How am I going to get out of this?'"

Dillon explained that it was only when his co-star, the late Bruno Ganz, told him that the movie was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen that convinced him to actually watch his own performance.

The 'Crash'' star said: "Not one of the most interesting, the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. I was like, 'Whoah!' So I told Lars I'd watch it."

Dillon revealed that he didn't particularly wish to portray a serial killer but was looking forward to working with the Danish director.

He said: "I don't have any interest in serial killers but I wanted to have an experience, because I like this guy - I think he's a great artist, I wanted to discover something."