I wanted to make a movie, because the whole life of the movies appealed to me. You work hard for three or four months, then you don’t work at all for a couple of months.
I think everybody at some point – especially if they’ve been working their whole lives – should take time out and think about what they’ve done.
You know the first time I sat in the chair I felt anything but up, it was very emotional for me. I had a chair in my hotel room, a chair at rehearsal, and I was trying to spend as much time as I could in the chair.
My character had been in the chair for seven years. He had gone through his anger, depression, drug and alcohol abuse. He had gone through everything, now he was up, he was happy, he was filled with his dream.
I never wanted to be a star, I just wanted to get work.
Once I got to be about twenty-five, I got interested in the music of the time. I started smokin’ dope, I started drinking, I started slowing down and trying to find myself. I didn’t want to work in nightclubs.
I don’t remember not dancing. When I realized I was alive and these were my parents, and I could walk and talk, I could dance.
They told me that the hotels had maybe two rooms set up for people with disabilities, but if they got there too late, and didn’t get one of these rooms, they couldn’t take a shower. The room wasn’t hooked up for them, or maybe the sink was too high.
I read the script, and I knew it was a good part. It was written for a white actor. That’s what I’m up against – I have to try to make roles happen for me that aren’t written black.
The best entertainment speaks to the human condition in an honest way.
I felt that I didn’t want to be in show business anymore. I felt that I wanted to be a farmer. I was milking cows and shoveling terrible stuff and working all day. By the end of the day, all I wanted was my tap shoes – I thought, ‘What am I doing? I better get back where I belong on the stage where we work at night and can sleep late!
Instagram Share
