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We were all thrown together on this show very rapidly, there was casting then a few days later a meeting where we all got to read the scripts and meet each other. Literally days after that we were on our way to Dallas.

I was a big fan of Ron Howard of course, so it was fantastic to meet him.

In Hollywood everything is so documented. If you go for a drink with somebody, it's passed around the world so quickly.

I used to do community theater with Conor Oberst.

I managed to get a short film with Channel 4 Films. I cast a young actor who'd done a bit of television before, a young actor called Ewan McGregor. That was very first thing. This writer had won this competition, and I made this little short, black and white movie. I think for both Ewan and I it was the start of our careers.

And the two planes that were taking the band and crew that we had taken out to San Diego were flying out after the show. And so I was never supposed to be on that plane.

When I drove up on the set one day, and they'd put up a sign that says 'The Bill Engvall Show,' I stood there for 20 minutes just staring at it. The director, James Widdoes, came up and said, 'What are you doing?' And I said, 'Look at this! There's my name on a stage door in Hollywood!'

As an actor, you can believe that you are the reason for a show's success, but these things are a brand name now. They're like Coca-Cola. It's like, with or without you, people are still gonna drink it.

I think Ian McKellen made it all happen, because he used to throw dinner parties and invite everyone over.