Bankrate: You've certainly taken on very challenging roles. Was there anything about this role that you perceived to be a great potential challenge?

Adrien Brody: This was a breath of fresh air for me -- not that it was easy, but it was an opportunity to do something lighter. I've been looking for something like this for a long time. I don't necessarily look for things that are extremely challenging. I like things I will definitely grow from as an actor and as a human being. That's something I appreciate that comes with the work. There's also something to be said for finding work that just lightens your load. I was coming off playing a very heavy role, and it's nice to show up to work and explore lighter elements, and humor, and the absurdity of what these guys went through, the random things. I was also excited at the prospect of being on a train in India for a few months. The way Wes described the process to me, it was going to be very much like the experience these brothers were going to go through. I had a wonderful time there. I felt very free.

Bankrate: Did you find, after your time in India, that it was easy to bring that freedom home with you?

Adrien Brody: I think so. I try to find that kind of calm, anyway. It depends on what's going on in your own personal life. But India was really beautiful. I had gone there the year before. I had friends who were going and decided to take a trip there -- I didn't know I'd be going back there to work -- and I had a very different reality there on the previous trip. I was more aware of the sadder elements. It was less open. It may have been part of my own state of mind. I had a really beautiful experience on this return trip.

Bankrate: So many people in this film -- Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston -- have worked with Wes quite a bit in the past. Was there ever a feeling of being an outsider on the set?

Adrien Brody: No. I actually felt very welcomed into the group, and I felt honored by that. I would have loved to have been in Wes' previous films and been part of that group, or to have had an opportunity to do something like that with a director who's young and who inspires me, to have a reoccurring working relationship with someone I liked. I like that everybody was so familiar with one another, and I felt very much included. Hopefully there'll be more. Who's to say? We all enjoyed working with one another.

Bankrate: Is it odd being a rich, successful actor, considering that you're a kid from a working-class neighborhood in Queens?

Adrien Brody: I don't feel like I've changed all that much. I'm definitely doing well, but I haven't gone into a stratospheric difference in lifestyle. I have a lot more options, but I try to keep things simple. I'm very thankful to have the opportunities I have and to be compensated for doing what I love. I don't like to see the way people end up feeling more entitled for whatever reason. I often embrace being in places where I'm not recognized. I can't complain when I get a better table at a restaurant without a reservation, but for me it's always been about the work. What comes with it is amazing, but it's always been about loving the work. A lot of things I've done, I probably would have done for free.