- Many projects in Hollywood start off as a lie, but then rapidly evolve into reality.
- When the film business generates good income for me I'm overjoyed-it's nice to have a paycheck coming in. However, I never take it for granted, as Hollywood tends to be in a constant fluid state. I've seen more Hollywood "golden opportunities" vanish faster than an Oklahoma flash flood can wash away an oak tree.
- Every day in Los Angeles is a work day! With the constant sunny weather, every moment spent here is another opportunity live my life to the fullest!
- A lot of people get the impression I'm some sort of Hollywood "party animal". Sure-I "network" like everyone else in this business to snag acting gigs, but some would be surprised to find out after a Red Carpet event is over, I can usually be found standing in line by myself at Pink's Hot Dogs at LaBrea & Melrose or eating a meal at the nearest Seven-Eleven store-while sitting on the tailgate of my pickup! Someone should build a Sonic Drive-In around Hollywood!
- Many times on-set I think of all the actors, directors and producers that have traveled from "The Nations" where I grew up to try their luck at this industry and succeeded. Even as I speak my lines, I think about conversations I had with Ben Johnson and Gretchen Wyler years ago. So much incredible talent from one small area of Oklahoma. Tom Mix and Emmett Dalton and Will Rogers and so many more-the list is a long one. Although these people I've mentioned have all passed away, I imagine them standing just off-camera, coaching me, giving me much-needed advice and guiding me through each scene.
- Although I'm a teetotaler, I've never been a Carrie Nation about alcohol. It's served me well on many occasions over the years, especially as a fire-starter when burning off unwanted "brush piles" left over from clearing land with a bulldozer-or as a cleaning solution around the oilfield. In addition, pure "boot-leg" liquor tends to burn well in low-compression engines...LOL...!!!
- I've seen people show up for auditions hungry, wearing worn-out clothes and near-homeless. Passed the time in the casting offices having conversations with so many-claiming they spent their last buck on bus or cab fare to get there, while making statements like: "If I don't get this part, I can't pay my bills!" (Or lose their apartment, get their car repo'd and so on-reminds me so much of William Holden's "Joe Gillis" character in Sunset Boulevard (1950)) My heart always goes out to them for their determination to make it in this business and to follow their life's passion, but the odds are that most of them eventually give it up and go back home-forever wondering in their minds what might have been-but never to return to Los Angeles...The thought of quitting this business and going home in defeat, then facing bitterly-cold winters dealing with sick and dying livestock, frozen tanks of crude oil, vehicles buried up to the windshield in snow-not to mention what happens when the heat goes off in my house....Shattered toilet tanks. Hot-water tanks split wide open. Every bottle or can of "pop" or juice exploding in my kitchen. All the canned goods in the house burst wide open....Getting into my pickup in the morning-then finding out it won't start due to thief/pack rats chewing up all the electrical wires underneath the hood, or what's worse-driving down the road for a few miles-then noticing flames coming from the engine compartment-just before the windshield shatters from the heat....(Due to the rats building a huge nest of sticks, hay, paper cattle-feed sacks, and leaves on top of my engine exhaust manifolds overnight.) I can't imagine going back to that now.
- I love "improv" acting. I especially like seeing the director's face "light up" when I throw something out there they can use. I frequently get up in the middle of the night and scribble down extra lines or situations to make my characters more interesting for the next day's shoot. Unfortunately, I don't seem to get my greatest brain-storms until about two days after I'm through working on a project!
- When you don't drink, you don't have to make excuses as to why you do...
- Over the years, I've frequently seen Industry people get exceptionally rude to both fans and paparazzi....I've never understood that kind of mentality, as both are an intricate part of an actor's success in this business. It's all part of the system. I always welcome them, and try my best to spend time visiting with them, doing selfies, interviews and so on. It takes the same amount of effort to be nice as it does to be nasty...
- I love being cast in true-life period films, as I grew up in an Edwardian/1920's oilfield lifestyle in The Nations. One project I hold dear to my heart is Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) as I knew a lot of local oilmen (including my Grandfather Mitchell) that had lived through the 1920's Osage Nation Reign Of Terror, and made it a point as a kid to listen to their true-life stories and experiences. Frankly, I also knew many of the most violent, despicable drunken oilfield drillers, roustabouts, pumpers, well pullers and oilfield thieves imaginable-even witnessed two oilfield murders near the Osage Nation myself as a kid. I have volumes of detailed information in my head concerning this project that have never been published, and plan on utilizing them on screen if given the opportunity-have never forgotten the scenarios I witnessed or was dragged into growing up around the oilfield... I'm always at my best playing the worst characters.
- Every day I think about getting married. That's why I'd never do it......
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