When I was a teenager, my dad used to call me 'Hollywood' because I wore sunglasses all the time, even at night. Cue song.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
There are some kids I grew up with whose parents are in the industry, but my friends that I hang out with day-to-day aren't Hollywood.
My father and Mary Pickford were the reigning stars of not just Hollywood but of the world. Well, to bear my father's name was hard enough, but to work in pictures to boot was pretty foolhardy. In fact, my father was totally against it. He thought I should be off getting a good education and go into some safe profession.
I'd never really considered film. If I'd thought about film more growing up, I probably would have changed my name. I had no concept of my name in lights.
My parents know I was outgoing as a child, and whenever people came over, I'd automatically do impressions of them as soon as they left; it was my mom's favorite thing. Yes, I grew up in Hollywood, but not in any rich neighborhood.
In Hollywood, what they last saw you in is what you are. It's hard to break away from that.
Everyone at school knew who my dad was. It made me a little self-conscious a little introverted because I had a lot of attention drawn towards me, but in a way I guess it gives you a little bit of a celebrity skin, even though I wasn't a celebrity.
I met Jack Nicholson when I was about 10 at a party of my uncle's, and it wasn't so much that I knew his films because I was small, but he wore sunglasses inside at night and I thought that must mean he was very important and was suitably star struck by his charismatic presence.
As much as my parents are part of Hollywood, I have no recollection of them giving me advice about it.
When I was a child, I was referred to as the Danny Kaye of the family, because I was always impersonating and mimicking people. I was a song and dance man.
My friends back from the East Coast jokingly call me 'Hollywood,' and they assume I'm out at Hollywood parties, but I'm a domesticated guy with 3 kids.