Switching the public's perception and view of me was, and still is, kind of a challenge to get them to see me outside of a character that I played on TV for so long.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I wanted people to see me, to change their minds about me.
In my early shows, I wanted to put myself through a new childhood, disintegrating my whole identity to let the real one emerge.
I wanted to step forward and be on TV and for people to see who I really was.
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 didn't want the public in my personal life at all - I thought that people might perceive me as too normal, and I'd lose that larger-than-life rock star persona. You've got to protect that!
What once was an expression of who I was - acting - also became my hiding place.
I'd got a part in the original cast of 'Cats' when I was 16, and that kept me going for a while. After that, I felt lost, both personally and professionally - I was trying to find a way not to be seen only as this bubbly, bright, vivacious person. It felt like I'd lost the freedom to make mistakes.
The image you see of me out in public is really different from who I am in real life.
For a long time I did not want to do television because I did not want to get stuck playing the same person. I wanted the ongoing challenge of a variety of roles.
In my career, I really set out not to develop too strong a persona so that you wouldn't have a hard time imagining me in any given role. I wanted to pleasantly confuse the audience on who I was.