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I was never a villain on the stage. I always played strong, sympathetic types. My first stage role with a speaking part, believe it or not, was as a priest. It wasn't until I began acting in films that the producers and directors saw me primarily as a bizarre villain.

Priests and pastors are probably the most stereotyped characters in film and television, and the reason why, I think, is that most people don't know one. Most writers who work in Hollywood don't know any.

I cast unusual people in my movies.

If I wasn't an actor, I think I would be a pastor.

I always wonder why people cast me in anything.

I'm always cast in these strange men... that's not me, really.

Well, I've been in several films including documentaries, but the big blockbuster, I was hired as advisor to the actors, I was trying to make Jesuits out of them.

I came across awful characters when I got some kind of status and came to Hollywood. Then you have directors trying to sleep with you, assuming that you will do things because of the way you dress.

I always had an actor within me.

People wanted me to be like the Madonna, the white nun, you know, and that's not me. But I'm no villain.