I allow myself to have my feelings of disappointment and discouragement, but never to sit and wallow in them.

I love JFK. My mother had been a worker on his campaign and adored him.

I kept thinking that with all those first jobs, "This is the beginning of something!" And then nothing would happen. That's the real Hollywood.

I allow myself to have my feelings of disappointment and discouragement, but never to sit and wallow in them.

I'll never forget John Heard doing Shakespeare In The Park with Raul Julia and Richard Dreyfuss. It was 30 years ago, I guess. It was Othello, and John Heard played Cassio, and while everyone else was "Acting!" Heard came on talking normal, and everyone in the audience was leaning in to follow him. I wasn't doing that in Bus Stop. I think in that performance, I was putting it out a little too much.

I understood the workmanlike quality of a good stand-up. They all have this. There's a technique for everything you do. But boy, it's tough, 'cause there ain't anybody else out there but you.

I had read the Animal House script, and by hook and crook, I finally got an audition. It was a great one. John Landis followed me out into the hallway afterward and said, "I've never done this before, but you've got the job. Now don't tell anyone!" I've never had a director do that. It was one of those Hollywood-dream-come-true stories. They saw me as a surfer or cowboy, not a preppie, but someone begged and borrowed me an audition, and I went in and got it.