I was selling real estate at the time, in Pacific Palisades, California, so imagine that: getting a note and a bottle of champagne from Jack Nicholson when I'd barely made a dime as an actor. It really kept me going.

I started just naturally turning into a nicer person, and it actually helped broaden and lengthen my career.

When real actors are approaching their work, we could be on a little stage somewhere, doing community theater. It's all the same. They're just trying to make the scene work. They're just trying to do the best they can and figure it out.

I suppose there are a lot of people who'd kill to have my career, but I still feel like a fan.

It's never good to just imitate somebody. That never works, because then you're not filling it with anything.

I can't emphasize the immediate panic that would set in when I had to audition. I can't believe I did it.

If I had not lived the life I had lived and did not have the wife I have and the children I have, I would never know how to play that role [of Dr. Bedsloe], and I wouldn't have any of those qualities. It's a real example of how it is true that the camera catches everything. Even the stuff you're trying to hide.