Irish As A Person But I Feel

I Had Never Even Thought About Doing Something That I'd Never Done Before Or Proving Anything.

American Graffiti Was The First Movie Where The Director Let Me Have Any Input. It Was The First Time Anyone Ever Listened To Me. George Thought My Character Should Have A Crew Cut, But I Wasn't Happy With That Idea. I'd Always Had Pretty Long Hair Back Then - In College, Particularly - So I Told George My Character Should Wear A Cowboy Hat. George Thought About It And He Remembered A Bunch Of Guys From Modesto, California, Who Cruised Around, Like My Character, And Wore Cowboy Hats, So It Turned Out That It Actually Fit The Movie.

There Comes A Point When You've Exhausted Your Opportunities Playing Good Guys. I've Been Around Long Enough, I Think I'm Entitled To Explore A Bit. But What I Saw There Was An Opportunity To Play A Character Different From What The Audience's Expectation Was. A Chance To Take Their Crude Experience Of Me - Of My Iconography, If You Will - And Turn It On Its Ear At An Appropriate Juncture In The Film To Be Useful To The Process Of Telling The Story.

You Have To Remember That Baseball Really Was The American Pastime In The Forties, Not Football, Basketball Or Any Other Sport.

I Believe That The Racial Injustice Which Existed Such A Short Time Ago Probably Would Have Persisted Longer If The Color Barrier Had Not Been Broken In Baseball.