“I was a terrific actor – a lot of people said that about me. But I wasn’t getting the kind of parts that fed my ego. I was getting small parts. Or very weird parts. Like Lucky in Waiting for Godot. And I did very well with it. But I don’t have a type. I’m not short like Dustin. I’m not fat. I’m not a leading-man type – I don’t look like Robert Redford. I’m neutral – that’s the reality. And I was tired of not getting the big parts. I found when I was teaching I had more satisfaction than when I was acting. Now I say, “Have Stanislavsky system, will travel.”.
When I work with Sigourney – I’ve done five movies with her – I go to her apartment on the East Side. I first met her on the set of Death and the Maiden. She had a pretty good reputation – three Academy Award nominations – but I sat in on her first reading. I said, “That was good. Now, if you can just have a little more nervousness inside..’ She’s very tall. She looked down on me and said, “If I need you I’ll let you know.” I screwed up – she didn’t know me from Adam. But I saw something that had to be there. Two days later we were friends.