I can remember when there were storylines with gay characters on shows like 'Family' and 'Dynasty' and thinking, I have something in common with that person. This was way before the Internet and all the visibility that has brought with it.
People always think that I came from this dynasty of actors. But that's not true, because it was just dad. So as a child... I got to try it out really young... and I really loved it. I pretty much made my decision back then to become an actor. And then, more and more of us have joined the trend. So now, we're definitely an acting family.
'Duck Dynasty' is a ridiculous show, and long may it wave. America and democracy will endure. They've seen a lot worse.
Throughout history, clothes represented who you were; they are a great vehicle for explaining who you are. During the Ching dynasty, for example, what you wore and how it was made reflected your status in society. People could literally read your clothes like a book, just by its color and how it was embroidered.
Every once in the while I'll watch 'Duck Dynasty' and 'Kim & Kourtney Take Miami,' but outside of that, I don't really watch TV. Also, I don't text anybody, I'm hardly on Twitter or Instagram, and I'm very closed off. I'm kind of a hermit.
I mostly play my dynasty or against someone in the hotel. I don't really like online games. I can't stand people yelling in my ear over a headset. I'd rather just play someone like Dwight Howard out in Orlando or people back home. For games like that, it's cool, but just signing on and playing random people, I hate it.
In 2010, when the Lotus Sutra was made available to me by a private dealer, I was very fortunate to be able to have it. It is very long, 30 feet or something crazy like that. It has some 15,000 very small standard script characters that the artist Zhao Mengfu in the Yuan dynasty made when he was in his 60s.
I started collecting in the late 1990s. My first purchase was from an auction, a scroll by Dong Qichang, from the early 16th century, the late Ming Dynasty.
I was so fortunate to work closely with the designer Nolan Miller whilst on 'Dynasty' to create the wardrobe for Alexis Carrington Colby, and we had great fun sourcing outfits.
Dynasty was the opportunity to take charge of my career rather than waiting around like a library book waiting to be loaned out.
