I might do 'X Factor' next year. It's looking good that I won't get the sack at Christmas.

Yeah I started when I was 6 years old. My brother and sister would get all of these presents at Christmas time from the cast and crew of their show and I was jealous. So I decided that I had to become an actor.

It can't be overstated how wonderful it is not to have to audition any more. Any actor will tell you it's like Christmas.

I think I can work with any type of actor.

The security comes as an actor in knowing that you're not in control. If you try to control your career or how people perceive you you'll make yourself unhappy because life doesn't work like that. So much is luck. It's much better to let yourself off to think 'There's nothing I can do.'

Actresses can get outrageously precious about the way they look. That's not what life's about. If you starve yourself to the point where your brain cells shrivel you will never do good work. And if you're overly conscious of your arms flapping in the wind how can you look the other actor in the eye to respond to them?

I have to work really hard eight shows a week to get a nice check as an actor. But when I write a play and it's a - knock wood - hit the checks come in for many years.

The quality of your work in the long run is the deciding factor on how much your services are valued by the world.

Actors work and slave and it is the color of your hair that can determine your fate in the end.

I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place.

If I went to work in a factory the first thing I'd do is join a union.

Before you start some work always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions go ahead.

When I am cast in a movie where I feel that the woman's part is more interesting I usually start thinking about Spencer Tracy and Fred Astaire. They seem to be the most clear actors when working with women.

A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors young and old seem to be afflicted by android Barbie creep. All those thick swatches of lifeless strands clustering lankly round ladies' necks! Like orange tanning spray this is a fashion fad that should be put out of its misery.

Follow the wisdom of the great actor James Cagney you hit your mark you look the other guy in the eye and you tell the truth.

But the war on terror as I have repeatedly said in the past and the Afghan people believe in it in truth is that the war on terror is not in the Afghan villages or homes. Its in the sanctuaries it is in the training grounds its in the motivation factors and the money that comes to it.

You know the period of World War I and the Roaring Twenties were really just about the same as today. You worked and you made a living if you could and you tired to make the best of things. For an actor or a dancer it was no different then than today. It was a struggle.