Approach to Acting

I call myself an accidental actor; I just fell in love with it.

Little by little I got into acting. In a way it was a fluke; I needed the work, I had bills to pay, rent to pay, alimony and child support.

I’m not a pop star. I’m an actor who happened to find popular fame. The proof of the metal, finally, is the kind of longevity, and it’s really up to me to take advantage of the opportunities that exist.

I was never formally trained. You can’t be taught acting. You can be taught the craft, but you can’t be taught to act.

The most important thing is story-telling. It’s as singular and old-fashioned as that.

I guess what I’m most proud of are not the triumphs. They’re okay, and I’m happy about them, but the thing I get the biggest kick out of, and what I like most about myself as a professional, is that over the years, no matter how bad the material is that’s come my way — and Lord knows I’ve seen some pretty bad scripts in my time — I always approach the work with joy, care, and integrity. If a script or a director needs help, I’ll do everything I can to contribute in order to make the whole better. I have great respect for my craft and for my role as a collaborator.

I’m much more interested, for example, in the process than in the result. Very rarely do we look at or examine the process these days. We deal primarily in the result. Is he a star? Does he make a lot of money? What’s the latest dirt on this guy? Is he happy? Is he sad? That’s not what it’s about for me.

If performing is in your blood, then it’s something that you can’t get rid of. I mean, what else could I do? Thankfully there is more than just that, obviously, but I care about what I do, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it.

To play a character I take a little bit of myself and magnify it. There’s a bit of every character in every person, and vice versa. There’s a lot of me in Hutch.