Interview from December 7th, 2009 by Suzette Trotter for SARIE
on www.sarie.com.
The original (in Afrikaans) can be read here. I did my best in translating, some words and meaning I could not figure out, it is marked with (…)
I HOPE
- To film again in South Africa. However, it does not exist an "ultimate role" which I have to play. I would've liked to interpret the robber Andre Stander , but this time is over. My glass is half full and the best is yet to come - whatever the role might be! (…)
- A master-shooter to be. I now shoot with a .22 L-rifle.- Someday to be remembered as a passable actor and an awful shooter. Someone who can recite a bible poem while firing five shots in 2 cm over 50 m (without a telescope).
- That from one day to another the world is in a better condition than until now.
- For the years to come more stage work to do. Acting possibilities become scarce as a person grows older and the best roles for older men is on the stage. It's where I started and there I will return.
- The best for SA. I feel responsible in the kind of that I'm really worried about things that I was powerless to reverse. I rather keep my mouth shut.I'M AFRAID OF:
- That people whom I love are harmed. If I love you and you feel pain, I felt it with you.- A crocodile - terrifying! I refuse to swim in muddy waters.
- Before a film is issued, I'm always a little anxious. It is such a hard work that you always hope for the best. Especially a movie like GI Joe, where two films will follow if the first one makes much money. It means work for the next five years.
WHAT I KNOW NOW:
- In December (2009) is my 20th year in Hollywood. My wife Sylvia and me live in Santa Monica with our Staffordshire Terrier. Hollywood has taught me to be strong (…). I had to leave my country and my people. It was or is bitter - the urge to prove myself was just stronger. Hollywood is a prostitute and sometimes she lets you into her, but most times she laughs for your dull masculinity.- Success is good. It's your personal milestone you reach. It makes you feel good about yourself and gives you a storage for the unsuccessful days you know will come. Fame means nothing. Honestly, I hate it that my face is known.(…) You can stuff yourself with the glamour world much as you want, but it has no nutritional value. Your work and your behavior on the set is all that counts.
- Nobody in Hollywood has made an impact on me. My teachers at school, my parents, my sister, my uncles, aunts, nephews, cousins and a few exceptional women had an influence on the person I am today. I see my mother and sister once a year. They come to me where I work or I visit them in SA.
- My parents taught me: Do not sleep with someone with whom you work and save your money!
- The biggest challenge I've faced. . . To be alone in a strange country, away from my people and my home, was rough. Many nights I cried until sunrise.
- My first marriage failed. I learned that I can easily run from relationships. (…). The married life is the hardest thing a man can approach. Sylvia and I are already 12 years together. There is something magical about our relationship. She is the best.
- I'm too old for children. Sylvia has a child from a previous relationship. He recently became father and I am now a grandfather. He is wonderful and I have much fun with him, but I'm very happy to send him home, too, at the end of the day.
- My philosophy of life is to be like water. Flow past, to create everything in your path.