Guttenberg On Patrol - Steve Talks His Biggest Hits

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1:03Plus, Bob's still makes furniture shopping fun, with friendly associates and cafes full of free treats and ice cream. Wanna see for yourself? Stop into your local Bob store this Labor Day weekend to party it up like it's 1991, and celebrate 35 years of doing things the Bob's Way. Baby, talk is Jericho. Talk is Jericho Mama, talk is me. All right, welcome to Talk is Jericho. It's the pile of thunder and rock and roll. And let's see what Duff McKagan's got for us this fine Friday of a holiday weekend, no less, with the highly anticipated, always appreciated. Duff McKagan, dope, the wing! Chris Jericho, Duff McKagan, Colin, hope you're doing well. Hope everybody out there is doing well. Listen, this guy walks into the bar in order to double whiskey, no ice.

2:04Bar tenders get something to double whiskey. He downs it, and he goes, hey man, it's the bartender. That's how it's a penguin. Bar tenders say, I don't know, like half a meter? Okay, I have another double whiskey. He has another double whiskey, he downs it. Bartender, how tall is he supposed to be the tallest penguin there is? Bartender is like, uh, what's tallest? Maybe a meter? Guy orders another double whiskey, downs it, says the bartender, hey, I think I just hit him, none in my car. Thank you very much, you're right. Wow, that was a long way to go for that punchline. What a stinker. But I love Duff for sending them every Friday, Duff and Guns and Roses doing a huge show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena tomorrow, September 5th. Go see him if you have a chance and come see quarantine. We got a few more dates lined up this year, September 20th in Sarasota, Florida, and the Kiss Crews landlocked in Vegas,

3:05November 15th at the Virgin Hotel, Paul and Jean invited us back, personally. But we got a great show today as well, speaking of great shows, actor Steve Gutenberg makes his talk as Jericho debut, and he's got stories doing three men and a baby with Tom Selleck and Ted Danson, working with Mickey Rort, Kevin Bacon, and Paul Reiser, and Diner, and what it was like on the set of his new movie, American Summer. And he talks about one of my favorite movies of all time, Police Academy, including dealing with overnight fame, why he walked away from Mahoney after four movies, and what might bring him back to do, Police Academy 8, and yes, he has an idea. He also discusses surviving five decades in Hollywood, his first big acting break, give, see, rip, and why could CUNY Short Circuit mean so much to him and to so many people to this day. Plus, here it motivated him to stay behind during the devastating Palisades fire to help his community and fight fires through the night a few years ago

4:06during those terrible fires in LA. So let's do it, Steve Gutenberg makes his talk as Jericho, debut right here, right now. All right, so we're here with Steve Gutenberg and there's lots to discuss, but right out of the gate, I want to ask you about one of my favorite Steve Gutenberg movies. You can't stop the music, 1979. Did you really like your movie? It's so over the top 70s campy fun. I mean, it's ridiculous, right? Yeah, I've seen it about six, eight months ago, so much showed it to me. They had a print and it's fantastic. Just in its vulgarity, it's fantastic and the absurdness of it. It's pretty fantastic and it's got some talented people working there. I really enjoyed it.

5:06Anyway, can't stop the music, starring the Villas people and Bruce Jenner, the former Bruce Jenner, who was actually the most fantastic person in the world. And I adored him. You know, when we worked together, he was just a really terrific person. So forward it, that's worth. How was that for you, though, like, as a young guy showing up for this movie? Because now we watch it back. It should be a cult movie to me, like Rocky Horror Picture Show or something like that. But do you remember a lot? Because it was one of your first films. I'm sure it was kind of a little bit like overwhelming to be involved with this project. Yeah, I was 20 years old. And I got the job with Alan Carr and Nancy was directing and Bill Butler was doing cinematography who did JAWS. So it was a really cool group in Alan Carr, who was involved, of course, in Produce Greece and Sayonite Fever and involved with so many big projects. So for me, it was very, very exciting.

6:09There was some terrific people on set. So, and I loved Valerie Perine. She was to me, you know, the It Girl and Marlon Monroe. I really had a good time on that film. It's so cool to talk about your career because it's been so expansive, like we said, from 1979 all the way to here we are in 2026. With all the great movies that you've done and we'll discuss them. But let's talk about your new movie, American Summer. And just about how like you continue to work throughout your whole life. We've seen all eras of steam Gutenberg from a 20 year old kid to modern day. Like we said, 50 years later almost. It's true. It actually is. It's 50 years since I started working in the business. You know, you try to keep changing and evolving. And then you're also asked to play your greatest hits at every concert you go to. Right. Right that you play. So Paul McCartney will play some of the good stuff, which is new.

7:09And then he'll play some of the good stuff, which is old. But people really want to see what you've done. So as an actor, you try to keep popping up different holes. And as an artist, you want to go into different periods. And you want to try new things. Some things work and some things don't. But you always have to remember, I always have to remember, I'm an actor, I'm an artist. I'm not a business person. I'm not somebody who's Machiavellian about what I do. I'm creating art. What do I feel? In my particular case, I have to wait for somebody to hire me. You know, if you do play or something that's more modest, you can do your own thing as an actor. I've been so lucky in my career. It's taken my family and my friends around the world. Introduced us to people and places and things. We would never have seen as normal people. I was having a conversation with a guy the other day, right? I really liked. And he's quite famous right now.

8:10And we were in a very special room with a lot of interesting people. And I said, you know, if you and I were just never turned out to be actors. But we were working at Walmart and we had great jobs. We still would never be able to meet these people or be here or be in this place. I feel very, very lucky to do what I do. And the only opportunities that keep coming, which are amazing for not only myself, my family, my friends, it's quite odd being well known for something you do. And it's not natural for thousands of, maybe millions of people to know who you are. And you walk into a restaurant and people want to say, low to you that you don't know. That's not natural. So it's not a natural way of being. So I think that as a person, an artist who's gotten some success, you know, over the years, you've seen them come, you've seen them go.

9:11Something good happens. You try to temper it and be very happy, but tempered. And when something not so great happens, you try to temper yourself and remember your strength. So it's interesting, well, the different times that go on with being an artist and being doing what I do. But that's also having longevity as well. Like I've been doing what I do for the 35 odd years as well. And when you have some longevity, it's like you mentioned a rock and roll band earlier. Every band has the albums that everybody loves. And then they have ones that people that might not like as much. And it's the same with acting or with wrestling or music. There is periods where people might love it. And we're fortunate enough that there's a fan base that loves this era. But then there's other stuff that might not have worked out as well. But that's so part of having, like we said, the longevity of a career. You're a painter. All of a sudden you're painting the keen paintings with the dogs and the kids with the big eyes.

10:11And for five years, you can't sell enough of them. Yeah, you can't paint enough of them. Then you go through periods where no one's buying your paintings. So you have to prepare for that if you can have a life of an artist or keep your head together. So how did you deal with that over the years? Because obviously you've had some of the biggest movies ever and then there's always the down period as well. And then you mentioned as a working actor, somebody has to hire you. And as soon as you finish that role, then you go to like, well, where am I going to be working to next? How did you deal with that over the years? I think every actor is plagued by it. The toughest thing, not knowing where your next job is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As I said, that's not a natural way of working. Most people get a job and you kind of know where you're going to be for two years or 40 years. So being an artist, you're going from job to job. And no matter what level of actor you are, if you're doing regional theater, if you're doing community theater,

11:12if you're doing Broadway, if you're doing short films, feature A films, you're always thinking, well, what's next? What's next? Okay, I'm booked for three slots. You know, I got a year of work in front of me. But then after that, nothing. Right. And then I have these friends who are on television series and go, wow, what a feeling it must be to know that you've got three or four years ahead of you of work. And it is a good feeling. But I think the most important part is you chose this. I chose this. I do love it. It's done. An enormous, I've been really lucky to be an artist and make a living. And I could buy this t-shirt with what I make and have made in movies and television and theater. It's amazing to me. It is really cool. What we mentioned earlier from being this 20-year-old kid and can't stop the music. And now here you are at the mid 60s for American Summer. We've seen you at every era of your life. And now you're in American Summer and you're playing kind of, you know, the elder statesman in the movie.

12:13It, once again, your entire career documents kind of the different ages that your real life existence. It's kind of cool. Yeah, you know, I don't think of it like that. Right. I get you. But you know, the thing is about a play. It needs all kinds of archetypes. The illusion is one archetype is more important than the other. It's important as an actor to take every part really seriously. But also serve the play. So take the part seriously that what you want to do with it. But also it has to fit into the overall objective of the writer, the director. You respect their vision and you try to fit into that. So on this particular show, American Summer, because it's a really sweet movie, I play the older version of the young man who's playing baseball and falling in love in a summer. And giving the audience a little bit of a book end about how things can turn out.

13:15And the struggle of life, that life is a struggle, you know. We're always wanting more. What do we want? What does a human being want at all these different ages? So this particular place, I want content life. And then my younger self wants everything that came between my content life and the younger self. Right. So it's kind of, it's a very well-thought-out movie that will resonate with people. Like it or not, crime is an unfortunate reality in today's world. We all share the same deep-seated desire to keep our loved ones safe and our homes secure. But for many traditional self-defense options feel too extreme, too dangerous, or simply too complicated for the heat of a high-stress moment. You need a reliable, effective way to protect your family without the heavy legal and emotional burden of a firearm. That's exactly why the Bernal-Less lethal launcher system was created. Trusted by over 700 police departments, government agencies, and private security firms across the country,

14:20the Bernal-Less launcher features powerful, non-lethal deterrence designed to stop a threat in its tracks. Plus, it gives you a critical 60-foot standoff range that can stop an attacker for up to 40 minutes. With over 750,000 units sold to the public, Bernal is a proven solution. It requires no background checks or permits. Visit Bernal.com to learn more and take control of your safety today. That's b-y-r-n-a-burner.com. Purchasing shipping restrictions vary by state and municipality. Go to Bernal.com to check availability at your location. When you come on set and obviously you're working with a lot of younger actors, a lot of kids, teenagers, and that sort of stuff in the American summer, you can tell by our conversation that you're a humble guy, but you're also kind of a legendary, you know, Steve Gutenberg comes on set. Do you try and help these younger guys and girls with what they're doing, or do they ask you for advice at times? I don't come on to help anybody. I really come there to do my job because that's the best thing I can do for everybody. It's to be great at what I do. To be on time, know my lines.

15:22Tom Hanks said, I had a great one. He said, be on time, know your lines, and come with an idea. And I've seen him say that several times, and I think it's so smart. And that's really what you do. You come to work prepared. Now, if somebody asked me a question, anybody on the set, and I've got the answer, I'm so thrilled to share, but I don't want to be a guy pushing myself on anybody with advice. There's with me to make the peace. That's the most important thing. And if it, but then I've had people, you know, all types of people, and I've asked all kinds of people, how do you know, what do you think about when you're, you know, you've got to do this drunk scene. So how do you play drunk? You know, I like to talk about acting with people. I do bring from yourself, but don't let it follow you whole, you know. Right. Well, interesting things. And it's fun to see the young guys working, because they're like, they're all over the place, and they're full of energy, and optimism,

16:25and, you know, they're all hormoneed up. And it's not good enough, because that's me, you know. And that's actually still a part of me. I'm still a very vigorous, really enthusiastic, optimistic person who, you know, wants more out of life all the time, and but wants to be present too. That's the maturity. But I was, you know, those guys, and I, you know, I just think about it, and I go like, yeah, that's how you should be at like a teenager really should be running around and having a ball. Yeah. And that's the time for it, you know, when you're, so when you're a young actor, it's the time to go out every night to places where you can learn, you know, go see theater, go to a comedy club, take an acting class, you know, always be out doing stuff. So, well, let's talk about this when you were a young actor, because you work with some of the all-time greats both in front of the camera behind the camera. Who were some of the main kind of influences on you, or that helped you when you were first starting your career and moving into this leading man status?

17:27I had a really great conversation with Jason Robards. We spent a few nights together having dinner and he was quite pragmatic, quite real with me about the life of an actor. It hit me pretty hard. He was extremely meaningful, purposeful. He understood the business and I think he's been hurt by the business and hurt by himself too, but it was tough on him. So, I had a good, I'd say, Jason Robards. There's a bunch of others just today, he hit me. Oh, really? Just today, as you just said, it went, yeah, wow, I had great conversation with plenty of other people. Michael Cain, I've had some amazing, I was doing a picture with him and sat down with him for many nights. Wow, he was so generous, amazing guy. What do you consider your big break to be? Would it be diner? No, I consider my big break was the first job I got, which was a Kentucky fried chicken commercial.

18:28Okay, do tell. I just got an agent and they put me up. I had no, I wasn't a member of the Screen Actress Guild and I went up for the first audition and I got the job. I got my Screen Actress Guild card out of it and I think that was my big break. What did you have to do in the commercial? You know, no lines, just I was in a football game, you know, eating chicken and enthusiastically roaring. Well, let's talk a little bit about Diner. Barry Levinson has done this show before and obviously a very interesting guy, lots of great stories and a great take. I mean, that was an all-star cast of young actors, kind of the who's who at the time in the way kind of a star-making performance for you. It's a great movie and magic time. So everybody just played their instruments so beautifully and we played it them all together so beautifully. It's like a beautiful symphony. You just come out of it going, that was good. Did you, I mean, obviously some of the, with Mickey Rork and Kevin Bacon and all those guys,

19:29did that challenge you as an actor? Yeah, they're great actors. So when you are working with them, Danny Stern, Paul Reiser, Ellen Barkin, Boris, you know, Kevin Tim, plenty of other actors on the show too. Lady played my mother Jessica. They're so alive every nanosecond. There's not a nanosecond that they're not alive. You know, you can't rest with people of that high vibration. They're on point right away. They're conscious. They're super conscious all the time. They're not like people who are talking and they kind of daydream. These are not daydreamers. So the fastballs were going pretty fast, which was wonderful if you're an actor because you want to be great. You want to play with the great guys. Sure. You want to be amazing with them. Because they're great. So I got lucky to work with these great actors. Let's talk a little of a police academy and obviously one of the biggest franchises of the 80s. That's where I first saw, I saw a police academy in the theater and it's just talk about the

20:33right movie for the right time. And you know, it shows your range as well because Diner's a little bit more serious. And then now you get to play this wacky comedy as the straight man of Mahoney who's who's it was such a great grounding character for this all ridiculousness that was going on. Talk about how you got that film and the genesis of the police academy story. I just had an audition and I thought the script was great. Just reminded me of all those movies that had great energy were sort of institutional, but elevated it even in their raunchiness like Stripes. I thought that Stripes was a great movie. And sophisticated in its arrangement and its story and the writing, sophisticated. And then you can have some really good fun with it. But the story worked. So I thought the same thing about police academy. I had a great faith in Hugh Wilson. There was the director. He was so smart,

21:37thoughtful. He knew how to make this movie. He had great experience because he produced WK Rapiance and Sinati. He knew how to be a boss. So he came on in with the producer Paul Mouslansky was also very bright. They kind of knew what they had. It's a great experience being the only ones in on. We found a gold mine and we're not going to tell anybody about it. But we're going to go in there and we're going to get buckets and buckets of gold out of there. By the time we got all the buckets of gold out, which is a lot, then we're going to show everybody the mind. And that's what these guys did. They had Kim Katroum. I must say, first of all, she's a wonderful person married to a great guy named Russ, amazing guy. They're a great couple. And she's lived her life so right. She's so smart. First day I met her. I could tell how smart she was and charismatic and powerful and on screen. She really made everything that she was in

22:44work because she's great actress. I knew I was too naive to really know what we had. But it felt really good. I didn't know it was going to be a hit. But I knew that it was good. I felt like I was doing really good work, even though it was a comedy, a broad comedy. Everything down to like the bullets that would be shot at me and how I would dance over them and how I would say, oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit. Which is very funny. And the director, he wasn't just knew how to do that. So as Bay says, police academy was, it was for me a sophisticated comedy class every day because I kind of watched how people made jokes and make jokes work too. Right. You shoot a joke. How do you shoot this particular joke? How do you get it? So the audience laughs like you, like when you read it on

23:44the page. And I think that's a real talent. I tried to sit there every day and learn. How do you shoot this joke? How does this joke work? There's a real, you know, craft to it. Once again, it becomes a massive hit in, you know, 1984. Were you surprised when it became such a big hit because it was not earmarked to be. I remember it wasn't really critically acclaimed and it was kind of a smaller budget. But yet here we go with this blockbuster. I don't think I knew what it was. Even when it started a huge weekend and everyone talked about it, it's very hard to hold on to. It's so fast and huge. You know, from Friday night to Saturday morning. It's like you go to sleep and the street, the street is empty. And then you wake up and the streets filled with pastries and food and different things, girls and fire blowers and first-leo and clowns and and gold and money rating down. And you were like, last night there was

24:54nothing on the street. It's very hard to assess. But everything was sort of the same for me other than I get real famous really quick. One week, I was a million times more famous that I was a week before. Luckily, I didn't go off the deep end, you know. But it was so exciting for everyone around me, all my friends and family. You know, if they people knew that they knew me, it was fun for them. So I didn't really know what kind of what a hit was because I never felt one. So I guess it's like having your first drink and you're like, well, it's good. Is this being drunk? You know, I'm like, well, yeah, I got all right. I'm not here. But I've been very lucky with that series of pictures to get in them and be cast in them. It really changed, you know, my family's life for sure. My friends, you know, definitely mine. Well, we talked about earlier about how you never know when your next job is coming. And here you go,

25:58police academy. Then there's two in 85, 386. For like every year, there's a new police academy becoming out. So you're working for four years straight, basically. Yeah, well, I worked a long time straight. Yeah, like a ton of years without like maybe two months off a year, but I was always traveling somewhere doing the movie. Yeah, you know, all these things help. Every film that works is a step, you know, in a certain direction. I've always been pretty lucky to find something that works or, you know, keeps me relevant and sort of in the zeitgeist. You know, you just have to, as an actor, you want to do really good work and you want to be recognizable. You want to get hired for the right things and work with the right people, vibrate high, be happy where you are. Do good work, try to make the world a better place, all that stuff, you know, it's important. Was it hard to step away from the role of Mahoney after, after four? No.

27:00It's not a real person. No, you know, it just after that, it didn't work. It was just a, really, I think it was a financial thing. That's why I think they did three more after I got done. I hope that we do another. I've been trying to, yeah, you know, I've worked with a bunch of guys on it. I know Warner Brothers has worked on it. There's probably been 10 scripts that nothing's worked. Really? But I've got another idea and I'm going to come up, I'm going to figure out how to present it. But right now Warner Brothers and Paramount are doing that merger. So, you know, they haven't been approved yet. But we'll see. But I got a great idea for Police Academy, a great one. That would be, I mean, because that's kind of the thing, like, kind of retro and that sort of thing, like a new police academy with the OGs. And then like Ghostbusters did. You have the original guys and you have young, a young cast. I love it. I mean, Greenlight it. We said they put in a young cast. And it's just all you guys then. Yeah. What do you know? I'm not giving anything away. What do you talk about? I give anything away. What are you talking about?

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29:11all that stuff is basically predicting the internet. You can Google anybody in this day and age. Pretty well. I want to ask you about also two, about three minutes of baby, another kind of all-star cast of this massive stars with Ted Danson and Tom Selleck. Another massive hit in your career, possibly even the biggest one, talk about how that kind of came about and how that influenced your career. It was another massive, like we said, a really big hit for you. Again, it was circling that project for a while. I loved it. Finally, my manager and Asian called him and said that they wanted you. I went in there at Colleen, who was the original director, Saro. We had a great meeting. We were going to do the film and then she said, Tom and Ted were on and it's great. Then Colleen had a fallout with the studio. Then they hired Leonard Nimoy. Things just sad. We went up to Toronto. We went out to dinner every night and we filmed every day.

30:13Leonard's really smart director was a very, very smart director. We had, you know, the best guys in show business, we had Jeffrey Kansenberg as an executive. You have Michael Eisner, who's the president. Everything else was like, you cannot miss. Every day I went to work on. All I have to be alive in this movie and it's going to be an enormous hit and I knew it was and it was. You mentioned Leonard Nimoy as a director. It was a very smart director. People don't really talk about his directing because obviously, you know, the ultimate typecast was Spock. That's all people think about. But he was also like, you mentioned a very accomplished director as well. Yeah, a great stage actor, stage director. He was an acting teacher. He was the real thing. He was a poet and he knew how to make this movie. Bob Cork, Paul G. There's a great producer named Robert Cork, who was produced the movie and he was brilliant. So we had great people and Leonard knew how to direct the movie. You know what to do? Well, once again, it becomes a massive hit with

31:17the chemistry of you guys leading to a great sequel as well. So I'm assuming you guys had a great time on set. Good camaraderie between the three of you. It was pretty good. They're great guys. Really amazing guys. Both of them really smart, well educated, well read. You know, they're superstars, you know, so kind of cool. It's cool. But they don't have a musical named after them. You mentioned the stage a few times. What about Gutenberg, the musical? I love it. Did you see it? I did not see it. I just remember reading about it. It's like, what an interesting concept. So funny. It was amazing. I saw it actually the original version. It's very small theater 20 years ago. And then recently it was done on Broadway with Josh G. Adadro Renon. Yeah. And it was really great. It's a very funny. It's about, it's a can't be funny show about Gutenberg inventing the printing press. You know, where nobody can read that he wants to make books. It's

32:19really fun. Did you have something to do with that though? Got you. Well, people would think, let's talk a little about some of the horrific fires that went down in Palisades Park. And you became one of the heroes of the story of just taking charge and really doing everything that you could to help. I mean, that was a terrible time. But all I heard about was you and about how how heroic you were and how the things that you did to help out. Well, not the only one. Of course. Of course. Of course. But it was a horrific fire. I just happened to be there. I happened to, you have a cup of coffee when I saw it. You know, I couldn't leave. I wanted to. I wanted to leave. But I could I just the school went out. All these people were in their cars and then everyone's told to get out of your cars, abandon your cars. They were running. You know, how could I run to,

33:19you know, how I had to help mothers with babies find their kids coming out of school. Older people in wheelchairs. People with suitcases, you know, that just had to stay. So tell me about some of the things that you experienced because I had one of the LA firefighters that was involved and he sent me some videos of just I mean, literally it's it's Dante's in Ferno. You're you're in the middle of L, you know, and some friends of mine lost their houses and just everything just how horrible it was. Or some of the things that you were trying to do with with kind of the the acts that you were doing. Well, the very first is when all the cars were there, help everybody get out of their cars and, you know, get to the sidewalk to go toward the ocean and you know, walk away. So help people there and then then the fire trucks couldn't get through. So I helped move all the cars to make a space for the tri fire trucks to come through a fire personnel, you know, firefighters. Went up there and help people get out of their homes and my neighbor was in Japan at the time. Went up there and

34:23took care of his dogs and you know, then I would stayed there and and me and, you know, maybe three of five other people in my neighborhood, we put out fires all night and put out re-rotize their own fire and saved people's homes, I think, and turned off the water. So the when the because the water was shut off, right, turned off all the water to everybody's houses or when the water did come on, it would blow everybody's houses pipes out because it's high up and all the the pressure is super high and we had to turn off the gas everywhere, you know, because we had to get these machines certain tools patrol, you know, all night. You know, we took shifts trying to see if there was and there were always fires, you know, we had to put them out, you know, sleep with one I open. Right, right, right. You know, because you never know when the fires coming. Were you actually like rescuing people face to face like in their houses and those that sort of thing? There was a senior couple that I helped get out of their house and, yeah, you know, there's a ton

35:29of people that, you know, I forgot, I literally forgot all the stuff I did. I mean, I started writing it down, but I didn't write it down, you know, it's crazy though, because like, you know, you still, you look like Steve Gutenberg, like, can you imagine somebody being in their house or somebody, you know, hanging around and here comes Steve Gutenberg to save them from the fire. It's like only in Los Angeles could that happen, right? Yeah, it's true. It's funny. It's very funny. That was a tough time. It's still very tough for people. You know, everybody's displaced, everyone's trying to rebuild their house or, you know, find someplace else to live. It's very, very tough. Yeah, I mean, I know some people, like I said, that live there and that he sent me a picture of his car that was like this little red globule that melted. You know, the heat was so strong that cars were literally melting in these blazes. They were these cars that were melted. And when they cooled, they made really interesting art on the pavement. You know,

36:35the molten metal cooled and it came like, you take it up and it was like a sword, you know, it's really interesting. But you know what? I was going to keep one or keep a few as a souvenir and I put it down and I said, I don't want to keep this. Yeah. I don't want this energy. This is really people. I didn't take any souvenirs, you know. With summer coming to an end, you're going to be spending more time indoors. Get your home ready and save up to 50% off custom window treatments during the Labor Day mega sale at Blinds.com. From room darkening to light filtering shades, finding the perfect fit is easy. Get free samples, expert design help, and professional measure and install services, or DIY with confidence and support every step of the way. Shop up to 50% off site-wide plus huge savings on door busters right now during the Labor Day mega sale at Blinds.com. So we start to wind down Steve. We've done so many great projects and acted so many different parts. Is there a few of them that stand out for you that are some of your

37:39best performances that maybe people don't know as well? I did it performance years ago. A very young man was 17, I think. I did a show called To Race the Wind, which was about how crens the first blind law student at Harvard. He was a dynamo. And I got to work with some really special actors that helped me with the part. And even though it was one of my first screen performances, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed my work I did on it. And then I'd say I did this movie, I did a movie for Lifetime last year. It's called The Heather Robinson Story. And I played a serial killer. Oh wow. And it really, I think, was a great performance. It got really overlooked. But it was a great performance. Is that something interesting because when you think

38:39Stephen Goodenberg obviously think of like this nice guy and all the movies are playing. So when you get cast as a serial killer, that's a great range, you know, shows good range for you. So is it hard to get cast in those types of roles? For me, of course, as I'm not looked at as a serious actor, right? You know, I'm looked at as a comedian, like leading man, you know, good actor, but I'm not looked at, you know, as psychologically complicated. So when I get a shot to play a psychologically complicated character, you know, I don't bad it. Because I am an actor and I've been trained as an actor and trained as a serious actor. It's just the equipment I have. My looks and who I am comes off very light. But, you know, I'm a serious person. Sure, of course. And I want to play serious parts too. That's how to, so you have to try your best as an actor to keep doing all kinds of stuff. And if you get lucky that one hits outside your supposed range,

39:42it's wonderful because then you can do all kinds of things. You get accepted doing all kinds of rhythms of pieces, different genres. It's a grind. So you wake up every day and you be the best actor you can be. I wake up every day trying to be the best actor it can be and get a great job where I can show my stuff. Yeah. And get lucky. A lot of it is you got to get lucky, you know, that you're great in it. It gets a great distribution. People see it. You get some great reviews. You get some great jobs out of it. You get another great job. You got to try because it's, that's how it is. It's, it's like impossible. It's impossible. But, you know, once in a while, people do it. It's an impossible thing about it. You know, all of us are freaks of nature. And that's why we're interesting to watch on screen, right? Right. And most of us were weirdos in high school or Finain, but didn't fit in. A few people were very cool. And they come famous

40:45in what they do. But a lot of us, I think, are weirdos in high school, but people put us in a movie that like how interesting to watch this guy, you know. Yeah. I used to watch Robert Mitchell movies. And he was like a unicorn, you know, like who in real life is like Robert Mitchem, you know, so LeConic and, you know, big and good looking. I mean, that guy's not going to be working at the luncheon yet, right? So, you know, he becomes an actor and then becomes a movie icon. Last few things, I saw that you do a couple of the, the Comic-Con's like Galaxy Con, those types of things. Do you like meeting the people who come up to you and say, oh my god, dude, it's not here, you know, I tell you, I really like it. Yeah. Very good for my ego. I mean, quite honest, but someone advised me to them. I'm like, yeah, because frankly, it feels really good to have the people at the bottom of the system, the last people to see the work.

41:51You know, it starts out of course with an idea, a writer, a director, a studio, and the actors, and distribution, and it goes down to that person who really sees the movie. And everyone who goes to these Comic-Con's is a fanatic. Right. And everybody who walks through those doors is in a great mood and feels really good about themselves and is excited. And everybody who comes up to you, if you're at one of these Comic-Con's, everyone of them is at their very best, because they're meeting you and they really want to meet you. And they are bringing the very best of their humanity. The very best of their manners, the very best of their news. They know they've got three minutes with you and they want a hit of bullseye and you get the best of people. And that's what happens to me. I'm like, oh my god, when I'm done with one of these and I go home, I'm like, I'm so lucky. I

42:53met 500 people. Yeah. They're all telling me their favorite story about the Lisa Academy. They used to watch with their grandfather or the fun or they recite stuff from short circuit. All I got to do is sit back and enjoy it. And then I'm filled up with not only my ego, but my heart and knowing like, this is part of what you do it. I mean, I want my career, I want my art, I want to be able to work. But part of it is you cannot avoid there are live people out there paying money whether television series, theater, a movie and this in the theater to see you, to talk to you, to watch you, to emulate you, to imitate you. So I just think all those things, you're they're not dumb. These are like the coolest opportunity to meet people who love your work. And you never will meet them other than you walk in a street and someone who's like, that's right. Let me tell you

43:55something, people who go to dramas, they don't show up to these conventions. There are no drama conventions because those people are not going to go and show up. They're not going to be like, oh my God, I got to talk to you about the English patient. But they show up for, man, I want to talk to you about cocoon. Oh my God, sign this poster for cocoon. It's amazing. The movie changed my life. Wow, I believe now in the, you know, forever life. I'm not just making this up, but yeah. I'm saying that it's so opposite what I thought they were going to be. So I enjoy it. It's awesome, man. Last question for you. What's your favorite thing about making American Summer? I would say the director Michael Gray really terrific at work with me. Very smart. But you knew how to do a scene and really directed me with a lot of sensitivity and brains. So I like it's great talking to you, Steve. And looking forward to police academy eight. It'll come. I feel calm. Thanks, man. Cheers for the best.

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