There are some fantastic parts for older actors.
I made movies with some very nice people, experienced actors.
I was very new to working in front of the camera when I started shooting 'Gatsby', so I set myself the mission of gleaning as much information as possible out of the much more experienced actors. The cast was astoundingly talented.
There is no hard and fast rule that I only work with debutants. I give prime importance to script, and when that works out, everything else falls in place automatically. In fact, most debutants express interest to work with me.
I always knew I wanted to be an actress, and I had the attitude that I would learn more under people like Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburne or Mike Myers than from someone who had never starred in a movie. I just didn't think that someone who had never been in a movie could teach me how to act in one.
You know, I'm an old man, and there's always parts for old bald guys.
One good thing about TV Land is you're always surrounded by people who know what they're doing, in terms of your fellow actors.
I think when you work with older actors, who are so good, it's rare that they are egotistical.
You see these juicy roles, and 9 times out of 10, they'll go to a much more established actor. It's the nature of the business.
When we started the show [Lonesome Dove], Suzanne De Passe - who had done the original miniseries and still owned the property and was turning it into this series - she brought in a lot of old friends - Diahann Carroll and Billy Dee Williams and Dennis Weaver. And we had an interesting collection off the top of these old seasoned actors. Billy Dee was lovely and iconic.
They're amazing, these actors who have worked on soaps for years and years and years. They know what they're doing. They don't hold you word-for-word on every line and you can fudge it a little, but they know what they're saying and they repeat it every time they come on.
