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I want babies. I think I’ll be a great dad.
I suppose not everyone has a dad who wrote a book saying he didn’t believe in the Parliamentary road to socialism.
My dad was a singer in a band and neither of my parents went to college, and I ended up getting into Harvard and was the first person in my family that went to college and it happened to be Harvard.
The best thing I ever learned from my dad was he knew he wasn’t the best of singers, but he always knew he was a great entertainer, and I always thought that was a good concept to bring along, that ultimately acting is an entertainment art and you have to be aware of the fact that you want people to be excited to be watching you.
My dad’s era believed that there was something noble in being a good guy – the kind of guy that lived straight and narrow, told the truth, and stood up for what he believed was right.
My dad had been an actor… not only had my dad been an actor, but his dad had been an actor, and my great-grandfather had been an actor. And who knows before then?
I went and took golf lessons so Dad would let me play with him. I was just terrible… but I was able to have a wonderful time just walking around with Dad. I can see the real pleasure of that game.
I look at my little girl and I wonder what she’s going to be and what she’s going to do and what is it that leads girls certain directions in life. I think a lot of that goes back to what kind of father they had, and so it makes me want to be the best dad I can possibly be.
I had always loved music. I grew up listening to classic country, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard. My dad loved Vern Gosdin and Keith Whitley. So I kept going to class and started getting totally into playing guitar and teaching myself these songs.
My dad has always been very proud of me but I think I have exceeded his expectations. When I told him I wanted to be an actor and moved to New York City, I think he assumed I would be playing the guitar on the subway and collecting spare change in my guitar case. The fact that I’m not doing that means that I’m a huge success.