I wanted to make a comfortable living and raise a family, and that's what I did.
— W. Earl Brown
I grew up hunting and fishing in Land Between the Lakes. I have so many great memories of camping with my mom over at Redd Hollow.
My friend, Zachary Throne, was playing a gig with Lemmy and the Upsetters. Knowing of our shared love of Motorhead, Zach called me up and invited me to the rehearsal.
Any characters that make me think, 'I don't know if I can do this,' are the ones I most want to do. I don't want to do the same thing over and over.
David Milch, twice I got lectures from him about the theory of writing. I told my wife one night when I got home, 'I feel like I'm being paid to sit at the feet of Aristotle.'
My best friend growing up was a truck driver, and it was big in truck stops. He'd have his 'Deadwood' DVDs, and they'd watch them in the lounge.
My wife married me when the odds were that I'd be a house-painting bouncer for the rest of my days. She has stuck by me through that with nothing but love and support.
I try to physically and mentally immerse myself in whatever it is I am doing. That is good for me as an artist.
I grew up in Murray, Kentucky. My wife is from there, also.
I'm very wary of fawning too much over heroes. There's an old adage that heroes are best kept at arm's length, and in a few instances in my life, that's been true.
I remember on the 'Midnight Special' seeing a video with Meat Loaf. I think it was the 'Bat Out Of Hell' video. It was like this raging huge fat guy, and he's really sexual, and he's really sweaty, and it's really kind of sexy. Like, a fat guy can get the chick. I still am a big fan of 'Bat Out Of Hell.'
My dad traveled a lot, so I only usually saw him on weekends, growing up. His favorite actors in the world were Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. If Clint or Burt had a movie out, we would go to the movies. He didn't like movies, generally, unless Clint or Burt were in them.
If the writing is good, I'm there. If it's something I've never done before, I'm up for that, too.
While I do not want to live my life like Lemmy chose to live his, I can't help but admire the strength and determination it took for Lem to do it all on his own terms and remain true to himself.
I once did a film in which I was being chased by wolves. I had a scene where the Alpha of the pack leapt on the hood of my car and stared me down through the windshield. I will never forget staring into those eyes; this wasn't a dog - not even a tough, bad-ass dog - no, this was a wolf.
I was a bouncer when I was in DePaul in Chicago at the theater school. I threw drunks out of bars - unless I had a play running that weekend. But I only had two actual fights. Some were like out of old Westerns.
David Milch is one of the smartest human beings I've ever met. I'm relatively bright and relatively well-read. I'm not in a league with that guy.
I grew up playing cowboy, and I still have all my Johnny West toys from when I was a kid. I have my actual toys from when I was five.
My daughter doesn't love me because I'm on TV, she loves me because I'm her dad.
While my megalomania knows no bounds, directing is one thing I have never really done. I directed a couple of plays. That was the extent of it.
I told my wife once, 'I feel like I'm getting paid to sit at the feet of Aristotle.' Some people are like, 'You're comparing David Milch to Aristotle,' and yeah, I am, but I'm not Plato.
I remember vividly, as a kid, my mother had 'Jesus Was a Capricorn' and used to listen to it over and over and over.
I was a rabid 'Seinfeld' fan. Then I did the show, and it ruined the show for me. Not that it ruined the quality of the show, but I had seen behind the curtain at Oz.
I like playing the bad guys. It's a way of exercising and exorcising my own personal demons.
If you loved music, Lemmy was your friend, regardless of who you were or where you came from.
All stories boil down to good vs. evil, and that's what the archetypal American Western was.
Stories have a way of telling themselves.
When 'Deadwood' ended, I thought, 'I'll never have this again, ever.'
John Belushi made me want to be an actor.
I am a music freak. My tastes run the gamut from Willie Nelson to Metallica to Miles Davis.
I consider William Gay one of the great writers that no one has ever heard of.
Sometimes, I have played something that psychologically sticks with me, that's opposite of where I am. I guess I have a lot of anger in me.
I try to physically and mentally immerse myself in whatever it is I am doing. That is good for me as an artist. I am always looking for that part that I have never done before, which makes it all the more difficult, because people want to hire you for what they've already seen you do.
That's the cool thing, when I get to work with people I love. The biggest has probably been Kris Kristofferson on 'Bloodworth.'
