BIG PICTURE - On Professionality and Old Hollywood Personalities

The people starting out, if they're gonna be actors, whoever they are, let them behave in a professional fashion. that means doing your job, knowing your material, and performing. Spencer Tracy was asked the secret of acting. He said, "hit the marks." that's saying professional. Jimmy Cagney was asked, "what is the secret of the acting he does"? He said, "you stand on the balls of your feet and tell the truth". That is professional. No fancy stuff, No, "I--I need a minute, I need a minute". You just get up out there and do the job. I tell young people today I don't think I'm capable of it because the business is changed so. For some reason, and I don't know what it is, you don't have the personalities anymore that you once had. The studios used to take these people, Gable Gary Cooper, really great stars and develop material for them and cut it to fit them and enhance their personalities in such a way that they became stars, although they did have it within them. I don't see that happening now. So you--in my view you don't have any stars such as the ones I mentioned. You have good actors. They're good actors. But, they were a great group back in the golden age, so to speak. People ask me what message I would leave about myself. I'd say I hope people say, "he was a professional".