You can't think that you're playing a villain, or you'll end up with a cartoon. You have to think about him as a person and a hero.
— Tom Berenger
To people outside, they think, Gee, that's great. You get to go here and there. The other side of that is our expression, This is location, not vacation.
There's a hysterical, tired sense of humor that comes after working 14 hours a day, six days a week. I like those things because they take the pressure off the constant stress.
Sometimes I think I'm real predictable to myself and other times... you always wonder, Is this really what I wanted to do? Did I make a mistake? Should I be doing something else?
Most of what gets made now, you laugh your way through, go home and forget you've seen it.
I wrote a script. I actually enjoyed writing it more than acting. It's about the Irish rebellion of 1920, which is a fascinating period and place for me.
I remember seeing Bill Hurt in New York once. I talked to him on the phone around 1988 and that's about it. I was shooting in New York and somebody said Glenn Close came by the set.
I had already done a lot of research for Rough Riders, keeping notebooks and old photographs. Some of the books were antiques for that time period, with the covers falling off.
I feel more comfortable doing films with groups of guys. It's a lot easier for me. There's a difference with women: you can't take them to dinner every night and go crazy.
I didn't know how to go about preparing for the part of someone who can't remember who he is. The frustration angle is written in, but there's also this incredible passive state.
Every other movie is one of those action things. I mean, 'Lost in Space'? A bunch of good actors running around shooting at special effects on a soundstage? I took my kids to see that and felt like I was on an acid trip.
Around mid-life everyone goes maniac a little bit.
While I was doing these plays in the beginning, I wasn't getting paid. I thought of it more as a hobby. Then I realized how seriously a lot of these people took what they were doing.
This is all new to me, these re-releases. I don't know how these things do. I don't know if it will be people who saw it originally or young people.
The Big Chill is one of those things that everybody can identify with. Between eight characters, they can pick somebody who's somewhat like them.
Rough Riders took 13 weeks to shoot, plus a week of training. The same guy trained us trained the cast in Platoon. Except, instead of radios, we used bugles to signal.
In this industry, the new owners prefer to kill anything they weren't responsible for.
I was so exhausted after fighting for the project for five years, shooting it was like the Bataan Death March.
I like playing flawed characters, people who aren't perfect.
I guess if I weren't an actor, I'd be a history professor.
I don't think a director should have any kids. I don't even think it's good for your physical health. Even guys in their 30s look exhausted because directors never get enough sleep. What I do is stressful enough.
I came in on the tail end of the old school of Hollywood.
Even my agents say, We don't know what this business is anymore.
We had training camp for a week, and we used the actual military drills of that period. We didn't have to work out much after hours, because going up and down hills all day was a good workout in itself.
These days, you can do a TV series for five years and all of a sudden be on top of the business. Features don't even run in theaters very long anymore before going right to television.
Take characters that Nicholson or De Niro play: they're not always tough.
My mother, sister and I watched through the windows as my father gambled.
I'm probably satisfied with my career 80 percent of the time.
I was kind of confused. I thought, Well, if I get drafted, I'll go. Everybody was very concerned with it. I had friends who went. Some that came back and some that didn't.
I have family obligations and all that stuff. I get my kids six weeks in the summer, which is a real intense period of time. I'm with them every minute of the day.
I got to talking to an old actor, and he had a bunch of stories about the Rough Riders.
I don't care about being a star. I can do a supporting role; I don't have to be a lead.
I've done about six comedies. Oddly enough, the script came to me from one of the guys in Platoon.
Debra Winger doesn't let anything interfere with her performance, which is the way it should be.
