MICHAEL BERGIN

My father was a sergeant with the Connecticut state police. My mother was a hairstylist.

I didn't know a damn thing about style.

It struck me that what I'd heard about certain celebrities was true: they had It, whatever the hell It was. Star power isn't a myth; it is tangible and forceful.

I'd gone to Manhattan to become a model.

A father's disappointment can be a very powerful tool.

I like parties, but I'm shy, and I often find myself standing around, feeling awkward.

I wanted to grow up to be just like my father.

Thank God for little miracles, right?

I wasn't even 20 at the time, but it taught me something about drugs. They can take a good man, a warm, funny, loving family man, and turn him into a loser and worse.

I'd been around women who put me down, made me feel bad, or said things to fuel my insecurity.

I was going to get the Carolyn Bessette story out of her one way or another.

It struck me that what I'd heard about certain celebrities was true: they had It, whatever the hell It was. Star power isn't a myth; it is tangible and forceful.

I like parties, but I'm shy, and I often find myself standing around, feeling awkward.

I began to believe the fairy tales: You know, how we're all out there looking for our magical missing half.

Calvin had finally taken a look at the ET tape, and he had reacted just as she had expected he would. He loved it; he loved me. Suddenly he was thinking of me for everything: underwear, jeans, suits, even the Escape fragrance campaign.

I too have my own demons, and I have struggled. I've made my own mistakes, and I'm not proud of them.

We live in a kissy society.

Thank God for little miracles, right?

I wanted to marry a girl just like my mom.

By the time I was 8 years old, sports had pretty much taken over my life.

I'd been around women who put me down, made me feel bad, or said things to fuel my insecurity.

I didn't know a damn thing about style.

I'd gone to Manhattan to become a model.

A father's disappointment can be a very powerful tool.

My father was a sergeant with the Connecticut state police. My mother was a hairstylist.

The people on Baywatch were about as nice a group of people as I had ever worked with.

The fact is, my parents loved me, and I wanted to be worthy of their love. I wanted to make them proud.

What was it about Carolyn that made her so cautious about revealing herself?

I guess that's what I was: a set of abs. And they lit the abs and shot the abs and sent the abs on their way. The photographer didn't look at my face once. I was humiliated.

New York is tough on lonely people.

I wasn't even 20 at the time, but it taught me something about drugs. They can take a good man, a warm, funny, loving family man, and turn him into a loser and worse.

I spent two weeks prancing around a studio in Queens in my underwear with nine other guys. They were long days. But what the hell, it was Calvin Klein.

I wanted to grow up to be just like my father.

We're all pretty ordinary on paper.