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.

Steven's Spielberg is one of the most visually talented and character-oriented directors I've ever worked with. And I learn from him every time I watch one of his movies. Good or bad - and he has made some awful movies - they're never uninteresting. He's made four or five of the greatest movies of all time. Perfect movies, like E.T. or Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan.

I learned a hell of a lot from my co-star, Kurt Russell. He's one of my closest friends and was one of my best teachers. He was the pro. He approached it like a baseball player. Acting is a contact sport to him.

Funny is funny. You can be fooled by the eye, but if your performance is funny to the ear, it will be funny. I think it's that if you don't have the visual, you have to infuse the full personality into the voice.

It's the kind of sage wisdom coming from a guy who was 25 at the time, but already had 20 years of experience. Kurt Russell is a wonderful actor and a great guy.

It started with Ronald Reagan, when he took away the financing to the California universities. It used to be cheap to send your kids to the UCs. They'd call it an investment, because the more you educate people, the more they'll pay in taxes, because they'll get better jobs. But Reagan said, "No, it's a cost, so you're going to have to pay the cost." So now people can't afford to get an education. Anyway, I don't want to get too political, but yeah, I think the spirit of this country is finally coming back, and hopefully it will triumph.

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.