I probably made a few pictures I shouldn't have done, but I have four sons and I have to pay the rent. If you have a decision to make about whether or not you can buy groceries at the market or whether or not you're going to make a bad movie, you're going to make a bad movie.
I didn't have much ambition, but I always had an idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to act. I would watch actors like Robert Mitchum, Humphrey Bogart, and Kirk Douglas, and I understood them.
I've done two motorcycle pictures: I did 'Beyond The Law,' and I did one produced by Tarantino called 'Hell Ride,' with Dennis Hopper and David Carradine and Vinnie Jones. And I just think 'Hell Ride' was a lot more of what a biker movie should be. But the good part of 'Beyond The Law' was that I had a good time with Charlie Sheen.
I don't know if there's anything sadder than an actor who hasn't made a good picture, and at least I got a few good ones that will stand the test of time. I feel very fortunate about that.
I'm not a publicity hound. I don't care about being on the cover of 'GQ' or 'Vanity Fair.'
I swim a lot, almost every day. I just go out to the beach by my place in Malibu and jump into the ocean.
I worked a lot of non-acting jobs for a really long time. They ranged from auto mechanic to landscaper to manual labor to working in a factory that made airplane parts. I even tried to go to school as a paramedic and ended up being an orderly in a hospital.
I've had a lot more good luck than bad, and I've made a lot more good pictures than bad ones, and I'm pretty happy with what I have. I don't walk around regretting too many things.
'L.A. Confidential' was written with me in mind, but Russell Crowe got the part. Go figure.
When you play a character that's someone real, when you're playing a true story, it's really great 'cause you're not pretending to make up some silly thing.
Maybe I was just born in the wrong era, man. I'm a bit of a throwback to the days of black and white movies. Those guys back then, they had a certain kind of directness about them. A lot of the screenplays, the plots were very simplistic - they gave rise to a type of anti-hero that maybe I suit better.
Encourage your kids' artistic side. Toughen up everything else.
I don't love being an actor, but I'm not qualified to be anything else. I was an auto mechanic and drove a tow truck and tried to go to school to be a paramedic.
What people don't always understand is that I established a certain lifestyle for my family back in the days of 'Species' and 'Mulholland Falls' and 'The Getaway.' I wasn't about to move my six kids into a trailer park. So when people offered me work, it wasn't always the best, but I had to buy groceries, and I had to put gas in the car.
