I remember I was supposed to take the bar exam that summer just when we got the chance to make our first feature. I told my parents I wasn't going to take the bar exam, and they were pretty upset about it.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I had to know if I could make it somewhere else. I did not want to go through the rest of my life wondering what might have been without putting myself to the test.
My junior year, I went to an LSAT-prep course. I flipped over my test and thought, 'You bastards.' I walked out and went to Waffle House. That's where I had what I call 'The Waffle House Epiphany': I didn't want to be a lawyer. I wanted to make a dent in the universe.
They told me at the end of that test that they wanted me to be a part of this project. I walked out and had a moment of clarity where I thought, not many people will ever have this moment.
I didn't take very much part in activities on campus at that time.
My parents always knew that I wanted to act, so it didn't really come as a big surprise. The only thing they told me was that I had to wait until I was 18 so I could get my education out of the way first.
Right out of the University of California I had passed the bar, but Colorado was one of those places where anybody could come and nobody would ask what your background was or how long you had been here. So I took to the place with a liking.
I had never passed a single school exam, and clearly never would.
I went to school on Senior Skip Day.
I was never very good at exams, having a poor memory and finding the examination process rather artificial, and there never seemed to be enough time to follow up things that really interested me.
It took me nine years to get through the fourth grade. When I got into television commercials, I had to take a crash course in reading. I was 32 years old, and I couldn't read the cue cards.