I decided very early on that it took too much of my energy to pretend to be someone else. People will make up their minds about me whatever I do or say, but at least I know I am being true to myself.
People should make up their own mind about what they think of me.
If you live a life of make-believe, your life isn't worth anything until you do something that does challenge your reality. And to me, sailing the open ocean is a real challenge, because it's life or death.
I like all types of women. I accept them as they are when they come into my life... But I'm not a romantic. I'm just up-front. I like to be a part of something real, not make-believe. I tell women to tell me the truth, to just lay it out. Let me be the judge and decide if I want you around or not. Let me have my choice.
When I was little, I put on plays for my family at Sunday dinner, and I would direct them and have all my cousins, my brother, and my best friends in it. I was a very imaginative and theatrical child and wasn't afraid of being in front of a camera. It was like make-believe to me.
I'm an American designer. It's important to riff on that. I remember, when my mom and I first came to the States, she was so shocked that everyone was so dressed down in sandals and shorts. It's not quite like that in Asia. To give that a superluxurious makeover? For me to make street wear? It's sort of chic to do it.
I got rid of my glasses and they changed my hair. That's really all they did. They went shopping for me, so the clothes are different too. It wasn't like Extreme Makeover where I got a nose job or anything.
I'm not a sculptor; I'm a hard-edged model maker. You give me a drawing, you give me a prop to replicate, you give me a crane, scaffolding, parts from 'Star Wars' - especially parts from 'Star Wars' - I can do this stuff all day long. It's exactly how I made my living for 15 years.
I never thought I would be such a family-oriented guy; I didn't think that was part of my makeup. But somebody said that as you get older, you become the person you always should have been, and I feel that's happening to me.
From then on in, me and Sonny started makin' records. My first records, Sonny was backin' me up. Sonny wasn't singin' natural at the time; he was singin' falsetto.
A lot of artists go in the studio and say, 'OK, whaddaya want me to do? Is it gonna be a hit? I'll do it. Is it gonna get played on the radio? I'll do it.' So they start makin' these songs, and they fall in the same tempo, same category, same this, same that, and it'll just all sound the same.
For me, Caitlyn Jenner is such a huge role model. She's really making a difference in our society by just being brave and sharing her story. People say she's not brave and courageous, but to me, she is so brave and courageous.
For me, getting off the sidelines means women making a difference by letting their voices be heard on the issues they care about.
It doesn't matter how big the shows are, as long as I'm making a living playing music. That's all that matters to me.
I'm from a working-class family. We didn't have a lot, but we had the arts. You're talking to a guy who is making a living at doing what he loves doing - acting, singing and dancing. So any career ups and downs were not that significant to me; the only things that really powerfully impinged on me were my losses, and there were many in my life.
My daughter recently reminded me not to get so busy making a living, I forget to make a life and I'm going to take that advice.
Making a living out of acting sounded like science-fiction when I was growing up. I didn't know anyone around me who lived from anything related to art.
Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes. Only when I fall do I get up again.
So fear helps me from making mistakes, but I make lot of mistakes.
Perhaps because my relationship with my father went through such a long, bumpy time, it's been very important for me to work to try to keep lines of communication open between my sons and myself to try to avoid my father's mistakes. At least if you're making mistakes, make different mistakes.
