INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO: SASHA KASDAN

Host James Lipton interviewed Sasha Kasdan for his show, Inside the Actors Studio, on Monday, July 30, 2012.

Waiting for my interview

JAMES LIPTON: As is always my fashion, I try my best to bring the newest of Hollywood's stars on Inside the Actors Studio. Today, my guest is a multi-talented gentleman...Sasha Kasdan. What I mean by "multi-talented" is that, besides being an actor for almost three decades, Sasha is also a very much sought after model, singer, dancer and musician. Sasha, welcome to The Actors Studio.

SASHA KASDAN: Thank you, Mr. Lipton. It's a pleasure to be here.

JL: Now, I've read your unauthorized biography through the trade papers which states that you were born in New York City on the evening of May 8, 1971.

SK: Brooklyn, actually.

JL: Well, tell us something about your past, if that's not asking too much.

SK: Not at all. I was not born the normal way, as a matter of fact. I was born in the back seat of a taxi that was pulled over for speeding.

JL: That's normal for New York! (Audience laughs)

SK: Anyway, when the police officer heard my mother screaming in the back seat, he told the driver of the taxi to get some hot water. They both washed their hands and helped with our delivery.

JL: Our delivery?

SK: I discovered several years ago that I was the first born of identical twins. At that time, though, my mother was a single, unemployed woman who was living on welfare. She couldn't bring up two children, much less one. So when she found that there was a nurse in the maternity ward of the Brooklyn Womens' Hospital who was not able to have a child, she struck a bargain with her that she would take my twin brother and raise him as her own.

JL: Have you ever met your twin brother?

SK: Yes, I did...back in 2009. His name is Peter and he lives and operates an architectural firm in Tarrytown, New York.

JL: Now, correct me if I'm wrong about your education. You first attended a public school in New York?

SK: Yes...at the Greater New York Academy in Queens.

JL: Where did you attend school from there?

SK: After my father got custody of me in a very bitter court case, I went down to Florida and finished my grammar school education at the American Preparatory Academy in Davie. After graduation, I returned to New York to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan to hone my talents as an actor, singer and dancer. While waiting to try out for plays, I worked as a print model. After graduating the Academy of Dramatic Arts, I returned to Florida to attend the University of Central Florida in Orlando, working at Universal Studios while waiting to find work in the theater.

JL: You worked as a "print" model? What do you mean by that?

SK: Until I turned 18, I stood under six feet tall. If you have the look but not the height, you work as a print model. Once you get over six feet tall, you can work on the runways.

JL: How tall are you now?

SK: Six foot one, in my bare feet. And, in case you were going to ask...I weigh one hundred and eighty pounds. That weight has been constant ever since I was 20.

JL: Now, by the time you went back to New York to attend the Academy of Dramatic Arts, you were already appearing onstage. Isn't that right?

SK: Yes.

JL: What were some of the plays which you appeared in?

SK: I got my start at 12 at a place in Hollywood, Florida, called the Hollywood Playhouse. I appeared in two plays there...in the title role of "Peter Pan" and as Chulalongkorn in "The King and I". Then, I appeared in my one and only opera at the Fort Lauderdale Armory..."Amahl and the Night Visitors". From there, I did my last South Florida appearance at the Kravitz Center as Billy Ray in Ernest Thompson's "On Golden Pond".

JL: I want to break away from your acting...and talk for a while about your modeling. Your father brought you to a modeling company when you were 12...but they didn't want you. Why?

SK: Well, not only was I short...only four foot eleven...I also weighed just a little over one hundred pounds. The head of the agency had her photographer take me down to his studio to take some forty to sixty photographs of me in various clothing...including swim trunks. When the head of the agency saw the photographs, she said to my father that there was no doubt that I made love to the camera and the camera loved me...but I was too skinny for them. They gave my father about six months to "beef" me up...and then they would see. Well, my father got me a trainer who put me on a rigorous diet and exercise program and by the time I returned to the agency, I had not only gained forty pounds of muscle but grew from four foot eleven to five foot five. That satisfied her. She started sending out circulars to fashion magazines of the new face and body...and just who I was represented by.

JL: That was some growth spurt...six inches in six months! (Audience laughs) Now, fame as a model wasn't immediate, was it?

SK: No. When I started attending the Academy of Dramatic Arts, I lived in a dormitory...an apartment building owned by the school a couple of blocks away. When I arrived home one day, I received a call from the agency's New York office telling me that if I could get to there in one hour, I had a job. I got showered, changed, hopped on the subway...and made the trip with fifteen minutes to spare. The photographer gave me an outfit to change into...a long-sleeved cotton shirt, knee-length shorts, a pair of sandals and a Panama hat. I didn't like the way I looked when I saw myself in the mirror...so I rolled the sleeves up to just below my elbows and the legs of the shorts up to just near the center of my thighs. Then, I took a kerchief and tied it around my neck, opening my shirt down to the middle of my chest. The photographer didn't like it and told me to put the sleeves and legs back to where they were and button my shirt.

JL: Now, something life-changing happened after that. What was it?

SK: The designer of the clothing slapped the photographer across the back of his head and told him that I was making a statement with his clothing and told me to put the sleeves and legs back to the way I had them and open the shirt to the middle of my chest again.

JL: Who was the designer of the clothes?

SK: Gianni Versace.

JL: Go on. What else happened?

SK: I was positioned in front of a teenage girl...a pretty thing about 18...who was in an advanced state of pregnancy. She placed her hands on my shoulders as I raised my right leg and put my hands on my knee...and the photographer snapped the picture.

JL: Now, I'm sure that the young lady probably became famous if she appeared in a Gianni Versace ad. Who was she?

SK: I was told her name was Vicki Lynn Hogan. And, you're right...she did become famous. As Anna Nicole Smith!

JL: Returning to your acting. While you attended the Academy, you appeared solely on their stage.

SK: Yes.

JL: When did you finally branch out to professional stage productions?

SK: It was when I returned to Florida. I appeared in both college productions and professional productions at the Orlando Regional Theater...and kept very busy from 1989 to 1993, sometimes appearing in the same plays at both places.

JL: When did your fortune start to change?

SK: It was when my then-girlfriend and I went to Universal Studios on my day off. Tori Spelling and her parents and boyfriend were there. Tori pointed me out to her mother...her father Aaron told me of a new show that he was looking for new talent for and gave me his card, telling me to call him if and when I should go to Los Angeles, which I did in 1995. But, when I arrived there and phoned his office...I discovered that the show he wanted me for was newly-canceled. So, there I was...six foot one, one hundred eighty pounds with no job and no place to live. I got cheap lodging at the local YMCA and made the rounds of the modeling agencies and studios by day. Then, I met the actor Brian Patrick Clark. He signed the back of one of his agent's cards and told me to go to her office and show the secretary the card. And, as the bards say..."the rest is history".

JL: Now, your first agent out there in L.A. was Nina Blanchard, wasn't it?

SK: That's right. She owned two mansions in Malibu where she housed her new prospects...one for the guys and another for the gals. She had given me about thirty copies of my photographs. They were composites with a full-face in the center and body shots wearing various clothing, including shorts and swim trunks, all around it. It was up to me to put my job experience on the back. She told me just not to make it too wordy or I would never get work. I kept to her credo...and started working nearly non-stop since then.

JL: Ms. Blanchard passed on recently...

SK: In 2010.

JL: Were you still under her guidance at the time of her death?

SK: No. I went freelance just prior to my marriage in 1999. With her fond wishes, of course. She told me after I appeared as an extra in "Starship Troopers" that the minute I start to receive a thousand fan letters a month, I'd be ready to go out on my own. But, up until the day she passed, we kept in very close contact. She truly was the "starmaker". I really miss her.

JL: Your wife. You met her at a dance when you were both teenagers, am I right?

SK: Yes.

JL: Tell us about that.

SK: Well, Jen attended a young ladies' school. They asked the heads of the Academy to form a get-together dance because my school had more boys than girls...almost twice as many. So, when I saw this sad little girl sitting in a chair all by herself, looking down at the floor, I decided I was going to walk right up to her and ask her to dance with me. We started dating from then on...getting into trouble to missing curfew. Then, we both went to the University of Central Florida. She started operating a martial arts dojo while I handled not only school but one full time job and one part time one as well.

JL: You said before that you were working at Universal Studios in Orlando. What was your other job?

SK: When time and finances permitted, I took trips around the world and snapped photographs for a weekend travelogue in the Orlando Sentinel.

JL: When did you sleep?

SK: Whenever I finished my homework...at the end of the day.

JL: It's a miracle you haven't burned out yet!

SK: Give me time! (Audience laughs)

JL: Now that you're hard at work on "The Six Million Dollar Man", when do you have time to appear onstage?

SK: I have two plays on the back burner for next year..."The Wasps" by Aristophanes and "God's Favorite" by Neil Simon.

JL: When exactly do you expect to be finished with "The Six Million Dollar Man"?

SK: Well, I'll be taking my family to Australia during the kids' winter break from school, then I'll be back at work finishing the movie. I'd say filming will wrap up by early March.

JL: Then it'll be out in the theaters by summer?

SK: Not exactly. The way Hollywood is behaving with making remake after remake after remake, I decided to follow the example of a good friend of mine...and release the movie directly to video. It pays just as well.

JL: It sounds to me like you don't like Hollywood that much. Is that true?

SK: Well, look at it this way. There are a lot of people out there with great ideas for movies. But, instead of exploiting that choice, the studios insist on remaking old movies. Look at "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" for instance. Do you have any idea just how many times Hollywood remade it?

JL: A couple of times, I would think.

SK: Nine times! The original came out in 1956. Then the first remake hit the theaters in 1979. After that, the same movie was remade in 1986, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2003, 2006 and the last one in 2009. They may change the title...but the idea is still there. Then, last year they remade "Conan the Barbarian" for no reason. They also remade and changed mythology with "Clash of the Titans" in 2010. Now, they remake "Red Dawn" and have us being invaded by North Korea. "Titans" and "Conan" were both panned by critics and public alike; people laughed at Nicole Kidman when she did "Invasion"...and now, they'll do the same with "Red Dawn". This kind of behavior will make me pleased to release my movies direct to video. At least, I'll have the say-so of what I film.

JL:  You neglected to mention two Hitchcock films..."Psycho" and "The Birds".

SK: That's right! "Psycho" was perfect as it was. Why would anyone wish to improve on perfection? Anyway, "Psycho" was nothing more than a scene-for-scene copy...plagiarism in its purest form. "The Birds" are following the Daphne DuMaurier story rather than copying Evan Hunter's 1963 script. Also, let's not forget Stephen King's "Carrie". The original came out in 1978. Then, Hollywood remade it in 2006 and included a sequel the next year...and is now readying to release a new remake next spring. It's disgusting! We have so many people out there just dying to write an original script for the screen. But, Hollywood is just not giving them a chance! (Audience applauds) I have a cousin who writes as a hobby...and he's written several original scripts and had them copyrighted. Only Hollywood just won't pick up on the option to use them. They tell him that he needs to get an agent and have the agent speak in his behalf. What good is an agent when the Writers Guild tells people flat out that agents are not looking for new clients or won't take any unsolicited or uncovered scripts or clients? All these people need is a chance to get their foot in the door and the survival of Hollywood would be secure. Mark my words...India is going to bypass Hollywood by 2020 if they don't wise up and stopping playing the fool! (Audience applauds)

JL: Now, you did something in one of your films that sort of repeated history from your past.

SK: Yes...I accidentally hanged myself when I was 12. I was using a movie harness which my father purchased without either his permission or the knowledge of how the device worked. Luckily, my father saved me before I actually got my..."lights" turned off for good.

JL: Trust me when I say that we're all happy that you survived. (Audience applauds) Now, I believe the name of the film in which this occurred was a wuxia direct to video movie called "Journeyman".

SK: Yes...the Chinese-made trilogy.

JL: Fill us all in on it.

SK: "Journeyman" started out as a story in which my character, by the name of Soong Zhao Li, was made a freeman by the emperor and given a parcel of land to clear and cultivate as his own with a home for his mother, wife and sisters. Then, the old emperor dies mysteriously...and his evil son succeeds him and takes back the lands and re-enslaves the freemen and their families. My character rebels and vows vengeance, riding off as his family are shackled. The emperor's archers fire their arrows after me...and one hits its mark, piercing my right shoulder. I finally arrive at the home of a widow who has a knowledge of holistic medicine and heals me. Her son teaches me how to shoot a bow and aim the arrows with deadly accuracy from a great distance. In the second film, Zhao Li becomes an outlaw, killing as many of the emperor's soldiers and hired killers as he can...before he is finally caught, tried and hanged. That film closed with the screen graying out and the cast and credits rolling up the screen as my body swung back and forth on the film.

JL: So, you died at the end of the second film?

SK: I said it was a trilogy, didn't I? (Audience laughs) The widow's son finds me hanging from the tree, cuts me down and revives me. Now, Zhao Li, with a hanging scar around his neck, is more determined to kill the emperor and free his women as well as all the freemen who were enslaved. I finally do this at the end of the third film, leaving the throne open for the old emperor's nephew, a man just as kindhearted as the uncle.

JL: Now, you have some more movies planned in the near future?

SK: Yes...a remake of the Richard Walton Tully play "Bird of Paradise", in which I will be playing an island prince who returns home with an American friend, who falls in love with my younger sister and marries her...only to lose her to an angry volcano. There is some talk that I may also be doing remakes of "The Rains Came" and "The Trouble With Angels", where I would be playing the Rosalind Russell part of a head priest of a Catholic boys' school where I have to tolerate two troublemakers throughout their four-year stay...as well as put up with the clankering of an old boiler that hisses when I kick it. (Audience laughs)

JL: I thought you said you cannot stand remakes.

SK: I said remakes that come out in short terms after the original. "The Rains Came" came out with Tyrone Power in 1937 and was remade as "The Rains of Ranchipur" in 1955. That was 56 years ago. "The Trouble With Angels" was in 1966...46 years ago. There is still room in the moviegoer for romance, tragedy and comedy.

JL: I agree, Sasha. The public needs them to hold onto their sanity with the world as it is today. (Audience applauds) Now, let's discuss your family life. Your wife and youngest son have small parts in "The Six Million Dollar Man", isn't that so?

SK: Yes. They play a young mother whose toddler is thrown off the subway platform in front of an approaching train by my enemy, narrowly missing the third rail. I jump onto the tracks, retrieve the child and throw it to a policeman and brace myself against the wall as the train arrives at the station. When I squeeze by the train and jump onto the platform, the mother shrieks and the child calls me The Terminator.

JL: Are they the only ones who want to get a taste of what you do?

SK: No. My oldest daughter, Anya, wants to follow in my footsteps and be a model. She's only 11...but she stands five-foot-six. She's going to be about six, six-one by the time she gets to 18...the right height for a model.

JL: Well, she has the best kind of role model. (Audience applauds) Do you plan to do any more modeling campaigns as well as movies and plays?

SK: What's to stop me?

JL: As I said before...there is burn-out. Didn't you experience that one time about four years ago?

SK: Yes...in Ireland. I was rehearsing for a show called "A Celtic Night", studying blocking and rehearsing songs and dances from 6 a.m. to as late as 2 a.m. I collapsed on the stage one day...and ended up in the Dublin University Clinic with an I.V. in my arm and the doctor phoning my wife, telling her that I was working myself to death. His remedy...since my acts were already perfect, I was to stay away from the Helix Center until the day of the performance and to get plenty of sleep.

JL: You have an adverse fear of hospitals. Why is that?

SK: I almost died when I was ten. I was hit across my head with a studio chair, which fractured my skull and destroyed my lower right rear jaw. The doctors worked on me for nine hours and I spent the next six months in a medically-induced coma while I healed.

JL: How exactly did that happen?

SK: It's ancient history, as far as I'm concerned...and I don't wish to discuss it.

JL: Very well. I'm not one to re-open old wounds. Now, after you finish "The Six Million Dollar Man" and the two comedies next year, what are your plans?

SK: To keep on bringing pleasure to the public both on screen and stage.

JL: Well, Sasha...I wish you a lot of success.

SK: Thank you. (Audience applauds as the lights dim and the microphones are turned off)

YOU ASK HONESTLY --- I ANSWER TRUTHFULLY

The following interview appeared on the Bravo cable network on Sunday, August 7, 2011.

Q: Where and when were you born?

A: I was born in the back seat of a taxi in New York City on May 8, 1971...which makes me 40 years old.

Q: Did you say..."in the back seat of a taxi"?

A: I sure did.

Q: How was that possible?

A: My mother went into labor en route to the hospital. The taxi was stopped for speeding but the officer was very understanding. He had the driver pull the taxi over and lent his service by acting as a "doctor". My mother and I were delivered safely to the neo-natal ward as soon as we arrived. I was named after both the driver and the police officer. My real name was Blaze Sasha Moscowitz.

Q: Moscowitz is your mother's name. Why weren't you given your father's name?

A: I didn't know who my father was until I was twelve years old. My parents had their marriage annulled long before I was even born...even before my mother found out she was pregnant.

Q: What astrological sign and planet rule your life?

A: My astrological sign is Taurus...the bull. I'm very bullish, especially when it comes to getting what I want when I want it and getting where I want to be when I want. My life is ruled by the planet Venus, which, to me, is appropriate because I love and am loved. People are always telling me that I am very handsome...so it just seems a logical choice that my ruling planet should be the one named after the goddess of love and beauty, which makes me twice-blessed.

Q: What is your birthstone?

A: My birthstone is the emerald. Many of the gemstones I have in pieces of men's jewelry are emeralds. Do you suppose that means something?

Q: What are your vital statistics?

A: I stand a strapping six-feet-one-inch tall and weigh in the vicinity of one hundred eighty pounds. I have chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes...although my eyes change colors like a mood ring.

Q: How so?

A: Well, when I'm calm, my eyes are hazel. When I'm on my guard or edgy, they flash gold. And when I'm feeling very mischievous...they're green. So, people can always tell my mood by looking at my eyes instead of my face. My eyes are dead giveaways. My build is modelesque and adequately muscled. I detest those people who look more like human tanks...all muscle and very little brains. My complexion is considered Egyptian bronze, which classifies it as a dark tan. My teeth are all my own...pearly white without any mercury in them, which makes many men jealous. I brush them after every meal as well as before I go to sleep and after I wake up. I want to make certain I look very good before the camera and onstage. I care very much for my health and work out two hours a days, three days a week.

Q: In what ways do you work out?

A: I do leg presses and lift weights once a week to keep my body looking the way it does. Another day is spent performing yoga, meditating and tai chi. The third day is devoted strictly to martial arts, which I do with my wife...who was, and is, my trainer.

Q: What sort of martial arts do you excel in?

A: I am very adept in ju-jitsu, karate, jeet kune do, tae kwan do, kung fu, the French art of savate and the Brazilian art of capoeira.

Q: What are your favorite sports?

A: I'm very good at all sports...but my favorite is soccer.

Q: It's said that you are very proficient in foreign languages. How many do you speak?

A: I hate to blow my own horn...but I believe I speak about thirty languages as well as dialects.

Q: Which languages do you speak?

A: I speak Castillian Spanish, Catalan Spanish, Provencial French, Bourgeoisie French, Creole, Quebecois, Italian, German, European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Shanxi, Min Nan, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Tagalog, Farsi, Arabic, Hebrew, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Greek, Dutch...and possibly a few more.

Q: Do you speak them all fluently?

A: Yes.

Q: How long have you been studying them?

A: I've been studying them ever since I was a child. My mother and I moved constantly. We spent a couple of years near the Canadian border, where I learned French and Quebecois...a few in the Pennsylvanian Dutch area, where I studied both German and Dutch...and some back in New York City, where I learned Spanish and Italian. The rest were picked up through subliminal teaching...sleep-teaching.

Q: How does that work?

A: The subconscious mind remains alert while the rest of the body sleeps and can pick up things it hears continually. So, when I awoke the following morning, I was able to speak what was taught while I slept.

Q: But, thirty languages and dialects! How do ever keep from getting confused when you speak a foreign language?

A: At first, it wasn't easy. One time I said something which almost got me killed.

Q: What was it?

A: I wanted to ask a man how I could get to the nearest restaurant. Well, it turned out I actually asked him how I can get to his wife's bedroom. When I was told what I asked him, I got down on my knees and begged his forgiveness. I'm just lucky he didn't break my neck. But, he was very understanding and forgiving. After all, anybody could make a mistake when they're new to the language.

Q: Is the knowledge of knowing so many languages useful for what you do?

A: Yes, it is.

Q: What is your occupation?

A: I'm an actor, singer, dancer and model.

Q: That's quite a full plate. Which one do you prefer the most?

A: Well, my first love was acting, because I started at thirteen, playing Peter Pan, and worked my way up to adult roles. But, I suppose if I couldn't be an actor, I would have been satisfied at just being a model. But, I grew up lucky...having the looks and talent which went together at the right times.

Q: What part of your body would you consider to be your best feature?

A: Like I said before...I hate to blow my own horn. I really don't know what I would consider to be my best feature...unless it would be my eyes. Robert Burns said that the eyes are the gateway to the human soul. However, my wife likes my entire body...especially my legs.

Q: If you were to die tomorrow, what quality would you wish to be your best to leave behind?

A: I guess it would have to be compassion. Whenever I see an animal in need of a loving family, I'd take it in no matter what. If I saw a man or woman starving, I would see to it that they were well-fed. If they needed a job, I'd see what I could do to get them one. Compassion is also ruled by the planet Venus.

Q: Getting back to modeling. How old were you when you got your first assignment?

A: I was fifteen and going to school at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. I was just sitting down to start doing some homework when another student said there was a phone call for me from the modeling agency. They said that if I could make it to the studio in one hour, I'd have a job which could set me up for life. I made the trip with thirty minutes to spare. The photographer gave me the clothes which I was to model for a fashion magazine...a long-sleeved shirt, a pair of knee-length shorts, a straw Panama hat and a pair of sandals. After I put the items on, I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't like what I saw. So I rolled up the sleeves to just below my elbows and the legs of the shorts to just a little below the middle of my thighs. I unbuttoned the shirt to the middle of my chest and tied a bandana around my neck. I looked at myself in the mirror again...and loved what I saw. But, the photographer didn't. He told me to button up the shirt and roll down the sleeves and the legs of the shorts. Just then, a man slapped the photographer on the back of his head and told him that I was making a statement with his designs...and told me to put the sleeves and legs back to the way they were. Then, he told me to stand in front of an eighteen-year-old girl in an advanced state of pregnancy. I later found out that the girl was Anna Nicole Smith...and the designer was Gianni Versace.

Q: How long did you work as a photograph model?

A: Three years...from fifteen to eighteen.

Q: Why so long?

A: Because I was only five-foot-six when I started at fifteen. When I woke up one morning six months after turning eighteen, I found myself standing six feet tall...and asked to perform in my first runway show. All through the winter break of my freshman year at the University of Central Florida, I traveled to Europe and walked down runways in Paris, Rome and London.

Q: How did you feel about the experience?

A: I loved it. I mean it was fast-paced...but I've always been able to move fast and still look good as I walked.

Q: Now that you've turned forty, do you still feel the same way about runway work?

A: Why should I feel any different at forty than I was at twenty? I still look almost the same as I did then. Sometimes when I appear in runway shows, attendees can't see any age difference between me and the younger models I work with. I mean...I look as young as they do, I walk tall and straight as they do. I even sometimes dislike having myself primped and made up like they do.

Q: You have a photograph online where you are posing against tires and walls that were painted white, wearing a towel around your waist, a tattoo on your left shoulder, upper arm and breast and black painted swirls on your left thigh. You didn't look too happy in that picture. Why?

A: Well, I had to be primped and painted just so one roll of film could be taken. That whole process took almost three hours...you know, one person painting the tattoo, another painting my leg and a hairdresser braiding my hair. After all that fuss, who wouldn't look miserable?

Q: How old were you when that picture was taken?

A: Nineteen.

Q: If you had to do those pictures over today, would you still feel the same?

A: Why would today be any different?

Q: What type of clothes do you always like to model?

A: I like to model all kinds of clothing. But, mostly I like to model shorts. You know, walk shorts, Bermuda shorts, tennis shorts, board shorts, swim trunks...anything that showcases my still-youthful build.

Q: So, you never like to blow your own horn. Isn't that what you're doing right now?

A: Oops!

Q: Do you get whistles from women who attend runway shows today?

A: Yes.

Q: How does that make you feel?

A: Sexy!

Q: You and your wife have been married for twelve years now. How does she feel about girls and women whistling at you?

A: She knows it's just a part of my job. I just try to shrug it off and pretend it means nothing. But, it feels good to know that I'm getting their attention now just like I did when I was twenty.

Q: Now, you've been doing stage work since you were thirteen. What sort of plays do you love to appear in the most?

A: Any kind. But, since I went to school to hone my acting and dancing talent as well as training my voice with private teachers, I guess my favorite plays would be musicals.

Q: Which musical would you say was your favorite?

A: "Phantom of the Opera". I mean, people already knew what I looked like. Now, they got to see me wearing scars on my face. But, my makeup wasn't as extensive as Michael Crawford's. My makeup was more or less like what Gerard Butler wore in the movie.

Q: How many children do you have?

A: Six...three boys and three girls.

Q: What are their names and ages?

A: Anastasia is ten, Ilya is eight, Peter and Catherine are almost six, Kaya will be four in January and Tatiana is nine months old.

Q: That's some stretch. Do either of your older children want to follow in your footsteps?

A: My daughter, Anastasia...we call her Anya, for short. She's seen me in runway shows and acting onstage. She wants to become an actress and model. I've already told her that acting is dog-eat-dog...that she's always going to be trying out to be the best at an audition and that many times she's going to lose. I've told her that if she wants to follow in my footsteps, she should turn to modeling...and keep herself in shape so she can cut a good figure.

Q: What do you eat to keep yourself in good shape?

A: Well, it's not just what you eat that keeps you in good shape. It's also working out and exercising that keeps you looking good. As for food, I always stay away from sugars and fats. I avoid chicken because of its high fat content. I'll eat turkey because it's leaner. I'm a sucker for fish...especially Japanese sushi, because it's raw. Too much cooking of the fish can destroy its natural nutrients. I love salads with fat-free dressings. I eat them twice a day, for lunch and dinner. For dessert, I'll have a small bowl of fat-free frozen yogurt. Snacks? Fruit and raw nuts are best. Drinking? Just purified spring water. No coffee, tea or soda! They're high in caffeine...and stain the teeth. And definitely...no alcohol! As for exercise? Like I said...I work out two hours a day, three days a week. I get in plenty of walking, running, biking and rollerblading to sweat the extra pounds off. And when you eat, it should always be at the same time every day. And always eat your heaviest meal for breakfast. That way, you eat less for lunch and just a little more at dinner than lunch. You'll find that your stomach will be empty by the time you go to sleep. And you'll sleep better...without burping in bed...and longer. You'll wake up refreshed and hungry...for breakfast!

Q: Do you smoke?

A: Definitely not! Besides drinking, that's another filthy habit. I had never smoked...nor would I even hang out with anybody who did. One thing I can't stomach is being next to any one who reeks of tobacco. Just smelling it on my clothes would make me barf.

Q: Do you have any allergies?

A: Peanuts. I almost died from eating peanut butter when I was seven.

Q: What happened?

A: My throat closed up on me and I started choking. My teacher, who also suffered from allergies, carried extra syringes and gave me a shot of epinephrine in my thigh and held me close to her chest, telling me to regulate my breathing with hers.

Q: Well, apparently you succeeded. How about vices?

A: Besides working out to keep myself in shape, I'm also a stickler for cleanliness. I can't tolerate either wearing anything that's dirty...or being dirty myself. The minute I even smell perspiration on my skin, I strip down and step into the shower.

Q: Well, they always say that cleanliness is next to godliness. Getting back to modeling. How much money have you earned as a model?

A: To date? Probably...twenty or thirty million dollars.

Q: Wow! How much was the highest you earned on a single assignment?

A: About one hundred thousand for two-hours' work...or should I say "walk".

Q: Besides Gianni Versace, who else did you model for whose designs you loved?

A: Alessandro dell'Acqua and Donatella Versace. As a matter of fact, she designed my wife's wedding dress.

Q: It must have been elaborate.

A: Quite the opposite. It was a simple, knee-length brocade dress with matching gloves, shoes and veil. After all, my wedding was a Jewish ceremony. You don't wear silk, satin and a long train in a synagogue. It's a religious ceremony, not a fashion show!

Q: Did you ever wear anything that made you feel embarassed?

A: Pajamas.

Q: Why?

A: You just can't model a decent pair of pajamas, long or short, without feeling sleepy!

Q: What do you mean?

A: I was modeling a pair of pajamas in a show in London roughly fifteen years ago. I came onstage in a pair of short pajamas, a robe and a pair of sandals, walked down to the end of the runway and, before I turned to return backstage,
I gave out the biggest unintentional yawn in fashion history. Now, during any other fashion show, people would not have noticed and I would not have been embarassed.

Q: Why was this show any different?

A: The royal family was in attendance. After that show, I made a vow that the only time I was ever going to model pajamas again was in my bedroom in front of my wife!

Q: Was there a fashion show that you attended that you were not a part of?

A: Yes. It was one in which the models were the spouses and children of models. That was where my daughter decided she wanted to follow in my footsteps.

Q: Now, let's get down to some nitty-gritty...of the personal kind.

A: How personal?

Q: I thought I was asking the questions and you were giving the answers.

A: Right!

Q: Do you have any physical abnormalities?

A: Well, not too many people know it...and you actually can't see it...but I have this long scar that stretches from just in front of my right ear, running over the ear, along the base of my skull and ending about one to one-and-a-half inches from my left ear.

Q: Ouch! How on earth did you get that?

A: Well, it happened so long ago...and the circumstances by which it happened have changed. I don't really want to discuss it and rehash old memories.

Q: Very well. How about other members of your family? Your parents? Siblings?

A: My father lives in South Florida and works part time as a writer. My mother lives in a guest house on my property in Malibu. Up until three years ago, I never knew I had an identical twin brother who is married, has three children and lives in Tarrytown, New York, where he operates a construction company.

Q: No sisters?

A: Sorry.

Q: Besides your home in Malibu, do you have any other houses?

A: I have a home just outside Las Vegas, which is being rented out, and a tri-level mountainside home in upstate New York about forty miles outside of Albany.

Q: Tri-level?

A: The house, which has a front door in the rear, tree and rock garden and outdoor dining area is on the first level. You open a gate and go down the steps to the pool and sundeck on the second level. You go down another flight of steps...and you're at the tennis court.

Q: How well do you play tennis?

A: I can tell you this...I'm no Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer! I win my fair share of games...but I've sent a lot of balls into the stands and hit many a judge.

Q: You're that good?

A: Ha-ha!

Q: How about martial arts? Where do you stand?

A: Thanks to my wife, I've made it all the way to eighth-degree black belt. All that was left was making it to gold. But, since Jen is a gold-belt grand mistress, she was forbidden by the laws of martial arts to train me to get one.

Q: Why's that?

A: By their rules, a student must not be on an equal par with the teacher. She told me I could still get a gold belt and become a grand master...but I had to find another instructor to train me.

Q: Did you?

A: Yes. Rules forbid her from training me to get a gold belt...but not her employer!

Q: So, her employer trained you to get your gold belt. He must be very good.

A: One of the best! He was the first Westerner to win the secret contest called "kumite". To this date, he still holds five records, including "fastest knockout with a kick" and "fastest kick". He knocked out one competitor in thirty-two seconds and another with a 72 mph kick. And, he was blind when he did that.

Q: Blind?

A: His competitor threw some kind of dust in his eyes and impaired his vision. But, his instructor taught him not to trust his eyes and use his mind to defeat his competitor. The result: he won the contest...and honored his teacher by getting a kitana sword, the first prize in the contest.

Q: What is your favorite martial arts move?

A: It's not actually a move. It's more or less a strike. It's called "dim mok". It consists of striking the top of a stack of bricks in such a way that it causes a vibration...and virtually pulverizes the one at the very bottom directly below where you strike. That's why they call it dim mok. It means "death touch".

Q: Why is it called that?

A: Because, when you're fighting for your life and you hit your adversary on the top of his head...you can actually rupture his entire body. That means breaking every bone in his body and practically turning his organs to liquid.

Q: Have you ever had to use that move in a fight?

A: Thank God, no. But, that doesn't mean I wouldn't use it to save my life...or the lives of friends and family.

Q: Can you dodge weapons...like they do in those films?

A: Many of those scenes are fabricated. But, if one gun was fired at me, I believe I could dodge the bullet.

Q: How about two guns?

A: I'm not Superman.

Q: Let's get on another subject? How about cars? What kind of car do you drive?

A: Well, I actually have five cars.

Q: Five? Are you a collector?

A: No. I just happen to own five cars.

Q: What kinds?

A: Well, I have a silver 2006 Lexus GS350, which is my everyday car...a blue and black 2006 Bugatti Veyron, which I use for special functions...a bronze 2007 McLaren F1-5 and a black 2007 Lamborghini Reventon, which I just have around the house for the heck of it...and a red and black 2011 Bugatti Veyron, which I actually bought for my wife for a birthday present. But, she doesn't like real flashy cars...so I kept it for myself. She's happy enough with her GMC family van.

Q: Now, about your wife. You said before that she is your martial arts trainer. What did you mean by that?

A: We met each other at a get-together dance when we were both fifteen. Her reputation as a fourth-degree black belt was well known all over New York City. I was the only one who was brave enough to march right up to her and ask her for a dance. I then asked her if she could teach me martial arts. She's been training me...and loving me...ever since.

Q: Twenty-five years? Not even Hollywood marriages last that long!

A: Well, we went to two different schools, seeing each other during the weekends...and occasionally on a mid-week date. After graduation, we both went to the University of Central Florida. We were living in a two-bedroom apartment outside Orlando. Then, after we graduated, we rented a two-bedroom, two-bath house in Indian Lake Estates. At that time, I was working at a newspaper as a travel photojournalist while Jen opened her own martial arts studio in Winter Haven.

Q: Wasn't it also around that time that your luck changed?

A: It sure was! One weekend, Jen and I were visiting Universal Studios Florida when I was approached by Aaron Spelling. He was scouting for fresh talent for his new show, "Models, Inc." and asked me if I had ever done any professional modeling. I told him I've done some. He then handed me his card and told me that when I come out to L.A., I should look him up.

Q: Did you?

A: Yeah. Unfortunately, the day I arrived in L.A., which happened to be April 15, 1995, I was told that the show was cancelled. So, there I was...just me and my 1994 Lexus GS250. No money...no job...and no place to live. Some people told me that I could get a bed at night at the YMCA. But, I was on my own during the day...which was spent scouting talent agencies and scrounging for food at neighborhood churches and synagogues. That's when my luck changed again...and this time for good. An actor noticed me and gave me his agent's card, telling me that I was just the kind of guy she was looking for. I got to bed at the YMCA early that night. The next morning, I took a good shower, dressed up in my best suit and drove down to his agent's office. Her secretary tried to put me off, saying that her boss wasn't hiring anybody at the moment. I was just about to leave the agency, feeling utterly dejected...when the big boss came out. She took one look at me and told me to come into her office. She got her photographer to take over a hundred pictures of me in various clothing...and she loved each and every one of them. So, it was "Goodbye, YMCA...Hello, Malibu Group House".

Q: "Group House"?

A: Yeah. It was a beachfront mansion that belonged to my agent. It had five spacious bedrooms and a humongous bathroom. I lived there with four other models who she was trying to find work for...Rick Cordero, Bill Tompkins, Eric Welch and Bobby Lando. After a while, we were even permitted to bring our girlfriends out to L.A. to live with us. After we started getting work and branching out on our own, each one of us left the Group House and purchased our own apartments close to the agency and studios.

Q: Is that where you live now?

A: No. I started doing theatre work and getting small roles on TV shows and in movies and finally got a chance to purchase my own house on the P.C.H. That's the house where I live now. The house originally had four bedrooms...two upstairs and a small guest room across from the master bedroom. Being just the two of us, I turned one of the two upstairs rooms into a fully-equipped gym and the other into a fully-stocked library, filled with books and scripts which I had read for. All was going well for me, doing some extra work and stage work...when my agent got me hooked up with a two-month modeling assignment in Italy and Greece for Donatella Versace in 1997. Since her brother's murder in Miami Beach earlier that summer, I jumped at the chance. I also took another leap. With Jen and I dressed as Helen of Troy and Paris, I knelt down on the red, heart-shaped Hellenic Bridal Stone and asked Jen to marry me. Ms. Versace was so happy when Jen accepted that she went right to work on a religiously-perfect wedding dress. We were married almost two years later in a traditional Jewish ceremony in Hollywood, Florida. The rest, as chroniclers say, is history.

Q: How much were you paid for that two-month assignment?

A: In dollars or lira?

Q: Whichever one is more convenient.

A: Ms. Versace wrote out a check for twenty billion, five hundred million lira...which, I later found out, was a little bit over fifteen million U.S. dollars. And, as they say, money talks. No studio refused me after that. Of course, though, I still couldn't get the top roles like I wanted. So, after doing extra roles for another six, seven years, a friend of mine got me hooked on the idea of direct-to-video films...which are just a profitable as theatrically released films. But, unlike theatrical films, I can play whatever I want...good guy, bad guy, cop, murder victim. You name it. I purchased my own sound studio and got a partnership with several other direct-to-video studios to make any film I choose. And, even if my videos don't quite make it, I still have my stage work...which is certain work.

Q: What plays are you getting ready to do in the near future?

A: I plan to play Billy Flynn in "Chicago" and the barbarian Usumcasane in Marlowe's two-part drama "Tamburlaine the Great". Say that name three times fast!

Q: I'd get tongue-tied saying it even once! Now, you were sidelined before "Tamburlaine". In what way?

A: I was working on a made-for-video movie. When I turned in a scene, my foot was hooked by a piece of carpeting that wasn't properly tacked down. I ended up spraining my left ankle and dislocating my entire foot.

Q: That must have been very painful for you.

A: It sure was! Martial arts training taught me to ignore pain. But that kind of pain was so intense, I actually cried and passed out. When I regained consciousness, my foot was back in its proper place and in a cast. I was out of work for five months because I had to go through intense rehabilitation in order to strengthen my ankle and the muscles around it.

Q: What happened to the carpenter?

A: He was taken off the project. He was put on another video that I was working on...and I ended up facing a lawsuit brought by him and his union.

Q: You were sued? Why?

A: He was supposed to have five sets ready by a certain time. Since I was not only starring in the video but being the "man with the money", I fired him from the project because he would have put me over-budget. And, believe it or not...this was the same man who caused my injury on the previous project!

Q: And yet, the studio put him back to work with you?

A: They thought he learned his lesson. Obviously, he didn't.

Q: Who won?

A: Who do you think?

Q: Good for you! Now...about filming plays. What musical would you like to film with yourself in the lead?

A: "Sunset Boulevard", with myself as Joe Willis and Glenn Close as Norma Desmond.

Q: You know what that means? You'd be getting murdered at the end.

A: Yeah...but who cares? I've been eaten in one video. How bad could two bullets be?

Q: Did I hear you right? Did you say "you were eaten in one video"?

A: It was in a science fiction movie called "Pterodactyls". I was an extra. I played one of a group of soldiers who were assigned to infilitrate an island populated by scientifically-generated pterodactyls. Only problem was we didn't know just how scientifically-generated they were. They were voracious and attacked anybody who trespassed on their island...whether it was a group of tourists, led by Cameron Daddo, or soldiers. My character walked into an open field. When I heard the monster scream, I turned and looked up with an expression of horror on my face. The last thing anybody ever saw of me was the creature separating my top half from my bottom half...and blood spurting upward from my waist just before my "legs" buckled and fell into the grass.

Q: Sounds grisly.

A: That's why it was called a science fiction. But...I'm still here. You played just as grisly a character in last year's "Clash of  the Titans", didn't you?

Q: I ask, you answer!

A: Okay, okay!

Q: If you could do another theatrically-released film, who would you like to have as your leading lady?

A: Wow, that's a tough question to answer. I like Gong Li and Ziyi Zhang...two actresses from China who are fantastic performers. And the Hawaiian-born actress Stacy Kamano. I had the honor of working with her during my stint as a lifeguard on "Baywatch". But, knowing so many languages, I can make any film in any country...and work with any actress I want.

Q: There was a story printed somewhere that your mother is a cancer survivor. Is that true?

A: It sure is. She was diagnosed five years ago with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I placed her in a hospital in South Florida, only to find out that they told her that her cancer was terminal and not treatable. It was as if they were telling her to make out a will and get ready to die. That was when I heard about a treatment center in Arizona. They advertised as treating the disease and the patient. So I put my mother there.

Q: Did it work?

A: She's been cancer-free for the past two-and-a-half years. You tell me.

Q: That's good to hear. About the future...do you see anymore runway work in the future?

A: Why should I stop? I still have my health and a strong body and a...ahem...handsome face.

Q: There you go again, blowing your own horn.

A: As they say...when you've got it, flaunt it!

Q: Do you have a fashion show planned in the near future?

A: I'm performing in a round-the-world campaign as soon as my video work is finished. It'll start in L.A....and go to the major fashion cities not only in the States, but around the work. It'll take me away from home for about a month. But, thank goodness for laptops and Skype! I'll be able to keep Jen and my kids up on daily events...and kiss them all good night.