The first comedy screenplay that I wrote was Animal House and I always thought I could and should be a director but no one was about to give me that opportunity on Animal House.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I just really loved films and thought I should be writing screenplays.
You know, I became a director out of necessity. I was writing comedies, and I couldn't find anybody to deliver it correctly.
I started writing screenplays myself and eventually directing.
I had never thought of myself as a director and found out that I was not. I am a writer who was able to direct the films that I write.
In my mid-20s, I was directing episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock' and 'Peter Gunn.' I was pretty much on course and - as I sometimes joke - was prepared to devote my life to become the second best film director in my family.
There were movies that always made me want to be a director. You see brilliant scenes and the way the emotions were handled. I thought, I'd really like to do that.
Directing a film was something I always wanted to do, something that seemed an inevitability in my development as an actor.
I always loved movies, but I never thought I would presume to be a screenwriter and definitely not a director.
When I made my first film, I didn't think of it as directing, so it wasn't like I set out to become a director.
Being an actor started me writing, and that led to directing.