go into detail , but for people reading this , unless you ' ve experienced it ? I could give you an essay on it , and it wouldn ' t make a difference because they couldn ' t apply it to their lives . It ' s like the word ' realize ' — somebody can ' t truly ' realize ' until it becomes real to them . And it ' s the same thing with this – no one would really realize what level of dedication and sacrifice is required to do this . You ' ve gotta be focused .
IE : Which brings up the obvious question : When the pandemic hit , how did that jar your focus ? BL : It didn ' t affect me one iota . Everything stayed the same . But I ' ll go into the studio and stay there for two years at a time , you know ? So I was aware of what was going on , but in terms of it changing me ? Other than actually getting it myself – we got ( Covid ) early on , in January of 2020 , and we didn ' t even know
IE : Looking back at the roads not taken , you were on the cusp of a huge acting career when you almost got the role of the morphing Terminator in Terminator 2 . BL : Yeah , but I kept getting offered axe murderer parts , and I didn ' t wanna be an axe murderer . I told my agent , " If you ' ve got something serious , let me know ." But it ' s funny how this town will typecast you . And as far as the acting thing , I was up for the part early on in " 48 hours ,' the part that Sonny Landham played as Billy Bear . But I didn ' t think the movie would be anything , so I didn ' t really give it any thought . But I am not an actor , and I don ' t think like an actor . I ' m much more versed now in how the process works than I was early on , so the whole T-2 thing , when they called me up , one of the first things they said was , " Did you see the original Terminator '? I said yes , and they said , " Did you like it ?" And I said , " Not particularly ." And they said , " well , are you interested in doing this ? The last one made $ 100 million ." And I said , " Oh ! Okay ! We ' ll talk about it !" So I don ' t think like an actor – it ' s not my primary focus . And at the time that was
what it was yet . So I felt like crap for a couple of months , but aside from that , the work routine after that was basically the same . And I live a very nomadic existence , and it ' s half nomad , half Bohemian , so you ' re in your own world on your own schedule , and – like I said – you can be aware of what ' s going on in the world around you , but it ' s not really your world . So you ' re observational , and again , back to being the musical reporter I was talking about earlier .
IE : What hobbies keep you intrigued ? And did you pick up any new ones ? BL : Well , I ' ve always been a big car guy . I own mostly Fords and Chevys – hot rods , muscle cars , stuff like that . I have seven . But again , building that studio was the best thing I ever did , because it ' s a little laboratory where you can go in and experiment and do your things . And it ' s not your regular home studio . It ' s a commercial studio I built back in 1990 , and it just now happens to be in my home . So calling it a home studio would be a little like calling King Kong a monkey . happening , I was building that commercial studio in Hollywood that I was talking about . So my head was in a completely different space . And [ director ] Walter Hill was one of the first people I met when I moved to Hollywood , and I was aware of his credentials , but I never really thought much about it , even though I ' ve got a lot of respect for his work .
IE : If you ' re not technically an actor , and you swear you don ' t think like one , what do you think onstage when you ' re acting out songs ? BL : Well , that ' s totally what I do . When I write lyrics , the benefit of what I do – of me being The Writer – is that I get to envision how I ' m going to deliver those lines when I get in the studio . And there are a few guys out there who are basically musical actors . Bruce Dickinson is one – when you listen to the words he sings as his lines , and he ' s acting out those lines . And I do the same thing . And that ' s the benefit of being The Writer – you ' re literally seeing it and rehearsing it in your head as you ' re writing it , and most of the time – not always – when you get into the studio , you ' ve seen it , like a whole Hitchcock thing , so many times in your head that the actual recording of it is just a formality .
IE : Did you ever meet Tipper Gore or testify ?
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