Kurt Russell... he is a bloody legend. I have idolised him, and to chill with him on the sets while shooting was an incredible experience.
I think Kurt Sutter's different as a creator for different people. My experience of Kurt Sutter has always been a really professional, lovely one. I like Kurt Sutter very much.
I worked with people I admire; Josh Lucas, who I'd worked with many many years ago on a pilot called The Class of 61 and Kurt Russell, and so there were a variety of different people that I enjoyed working with.
When you become famous, people can have a powerful yet illusory idea of who you are. You want to live your life, but still, you don't want to let anyone down. I know Ed Vedder, Kurt Cobain, Jerry Cantrell, all those guys felt it. They're smart, real, and all of a sudden, they're put on a pedestal.
I love Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain. I really do. It doesn't matter what style they had - whether it was pin-up or whatever - it just worked for them, and it looked effortless even though it was fabulous. I like anything that just looks effortless.
I adopted a motto: Never say no. Jim Morrison never said no, Kurt Cobain never said no. You couldn't have great things to write about if all you did was sit in your living room with your roommates talking about the phone bill.
I was a big fan of Kurt Angle when I was growing up. Actually, his book is a big part of the reason that I work out so hard.
I always thought it was strange when these artists like Kurt Cobain or whoever would get really famous and say, 'I don't understand why this is happening to me.' There is a mathematical formula to why you got famous. It isn't some magical thing that just started happening.
My theory is that Kurt had a lot of residual pain from his childhood. And when you pile that on top of his experience in World War II - he was in Dresden when it was bombed and saw a city annihilated. When you combine those two things, my impression of Kurt Vonnegut at 84 was that he was a very pained and haunted man.
Any writer my age almost can't get away from being influenced by Kurt Vonnegut, partially because of his simple, clear way of stating things. To read Vonnegut is to learn how to use economy words.
