I hadn't talked to him in many, many years. He got a bad rap on "Heaven's Gate." I actually live in the hog ranch from "Heaven's Gate" in Montana. Mike Cimino gave me that set, the whorehouse, that's my house.

I love seeing somebody act real earnest and serious, like Jackie Gleason. He makes me laugh because he reflects back to me my own serious-mindedness and how ridiculous it all is. It's always easier to see somebody else in that position than yourself, and you laugh. It's like the classic slipping on the banana peel, or someone getting hit by a pie in the face. Why do those things make us laugh? Is it from relief, like: Thank God it wasn't me? Or is it something else: I'm being very serious now. I'm pontificating earnestly and solemnly about-POW! PIE IN THE FACE! The bust-up of certainty.

It was fortunate for all of us to have Joaquin Jackson, who is a very renowned Texas Ranger, on board. He spent quite a few days with us on set and he added a lot to it for me on what it's like to be a Texas Ranger.

My father Lloyd Bridges was very versatile in his parts, but he had a hit in the '60s 'Sea Hunt,' where he played a skin diver. And he was so into that role that people actually thought he was a skin-diver.

With a labyrinth, you make a choice to go in - and once you've chosen, around and around you go. But you always find your way to the center.

Hope's interesting, isn't it? I can't turn hope off, it's hopeless.

I'm also working closely with a group called the Amazon Conservation Team, helping with the rainforest in South America.