In those days I was mortified, because I was a serious actor in my own mind, and then all of a sudden I'm this hunk.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I know some amazing actors who are not mortified every moment of the day, so my feeling is that maybe you don't have to be a wreck to be good.
I never wanted to be the guy people looked at. I don't think of myself as being a celebrity; it's too mortifying.
I wanted people to see that I really am a real person. I'm not just some guy who was on a TV show, some guy engulfed in the Hollywood life. I'm just a normal guy when it comes down to it.
I got too caught up in Hollywood, being so into myself and my image.
Because you know, down deep in my heart, when all is said and done, I still live under the illusion that basically people think of me as an up-and-coming young actor.
I had done a couple of plays, but I was a clueless boob. 'Cosby' allowed me to have something on my resume that was real and then the producers of 'Guiding Light' let me play a preppy killer just the following month. Suddenly I had two gigs on my resume that made me look like a real actor, although I was far from it.
I suddenly realized that the fellow who didn't show up was getting about fifty-times more money than I was getting. So I thought, 'this is silly,' and became an actor. I certainly never thought I'd wind up in motion pictures. That was far beyond anything I'd ever dreamed of.
I realized early on I was not an actor. And it was a great thing to have that realization. To see actors and see what that talent is... it wasn't me.
The big turn in the late '90s was that I realized I was going to be doing this for a long time. I was fairly sure I was going to be an actor for the rest of my life, which I think calmed me down.
I've always felt like the reason I became an actor is because I look for more high drama than what I had at home.