The process was remarkably cathartic. I'd sit and listen to my father's voice - having not heard some of these tapes for 30 years and hearing his voice laying me down for a nap, our giggles and cooking dinner - and I remembered all those wonderful days. Normal days.
'The bigtime for you is just around the corner.' They told me that first in 1952 - boy, it's been a long corner. If I don't hit the bigtime in the next 25 or 30 years, I'm gonna pack in the music business and become a full-time gigolo.
One of the most interesting things, at least for me, are the soundtracks for 'The Social Network' and 'Drive.' Basically, it's what I did in 'American Gigolo.' I could have done the music for those movies blindfolded. And one of them won an Oscar, and the other is this massive soundtrack.
I had to figure out how to survive in New York, and most of my time was occupied in getting an apartment and getting money. A lot of older jazz guys looked out for me and found me gigs and places to stay.
One of the things I figured out was that I was having good gigs when I wore jumpers. It was because I looked more like an outsider, so they expected me to talk about weird stuff rather than normal stuff.
I learned the songs and played the gigs, and then they called me about a month later. They told me they were like super stoked on me and asked me to join their band.
I have people come up to me who love 'The Other Sister,' or 'Old School,' or 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape.'
I have an agent, John Brockman, who is an agent to many academic authors like Dan Gilbert and Steven Pinker, and he's very good at conning academics into writing books. He pulled this trick on me.
Well, I guess most people would only know me from The O.C. I did a few episodes of Gilmore Girls before that. I was also a client on a lot of lawyer shows.
More people come up to me and talk to me about 'Gilmore Girls' than anything else I've done, including 'Guardians.'
I feel like I'm going to be like the ghetto 'Gilmore Girls' because I feel like this child is going to be more mature than I am because just look at me!
Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino gave me such a gift with 'Bunheads,' and to give me this gift of going on 'Gilmore Girls' was beyond. It was awesome.
I do shop online! But I'm shopping online mostly in the home categories - One Kings Lane and Gilt. At a lot of architectural websites, I buy a lot of hardware for cabinetry like hinges and things like that from England. So, you know, for me, I shop at Net-A-Porter, but I don't really shop that much for clothing online.
I've never wanted to use my age as a gimmick, as something that would get me ahead of other people. I've wanted the music to do that.
God gave me a voice to sing with, and when you have that, what other gimmick is there?
My incarceration was actually a positive thing from the beginning. I needed a gimmick to get my act going again, it gave me material.
The mob taught me how to play gin rummy.
I was in a band in Auckland, and I remember they all hated me. They had a big intervention. They said, basically, 'Gin, we think you suck.' I was miserable. I cried and cried. But looking back, that taught me about social skills and how to communicate with musicians.
I don't know what reception I'm at, but for God's sake give me a gin and tonic.
I've had years of teasing about my red hair, but I definitely think it toughened me up. If you're ginger, you end up pretty quick-witted.
