W. Earl Brown

I once did a film in which I was being chased by wolves. I had a scene where the Alpha of the pack leapt on the hood of my car and stared me down through the windshield. I will never forget staring into those eyes; this wasn't a dog - not even a tough, bad-ass dog - no, this was a wolf.

My best friend growing up was a truck driver, and it was big in truck stops. He'd have his 'Deadwood' DVDs, and they'd watch them in the lounge.

When 'Deadwood' ended, I thought, 'I'll never have this again, ever.'

David Milch is one of the smartest human beings I've ever met. I'm relatively bright and relatively well-read. I'm not in a league with that guy.

David Milch, twice I got lectures from him about the theory of writing. I told my wife one night when I got home, 'I feel like I'm being paid to sit at the feet of Aristotle.'

Stories have a way of telling themselves.

I was a bouncer when I was in DePaul in Chicago at the theater school. I threw drunks out of bars - unless I had a play running that weekend. But I only had two actual fights. Some were like out of old Westerns.

Any characters that make me think, 'I don't know if I can do this,' are the ones I most want to do. I don't want to do the same thing over and over.

All stories boil down to good vs. evil, and that's what the archetypal American Western was.

I grew up playing cowboy, and I still have all my Johnny West toys from when I was a kid. I have my actual toys from when I was five.

My friend, Zachary Throne, was playing a gig with Lemmy and the Upsetters. Knowing of our shared love of Motorhead, Zach called me up and invited me to the rehearsal.

If you loved music, Lemmy was your friend, regardless of who you were or where you came from.

While I do not want to live my life like Lemmy chose to live his, I can't help but admire the strength and determination it took for Lem to do it all on his own terms and remain true to himself.

I grew up hunting and fishing in Land Between the Lakes. I have so many great memories of camping with my mom over at Redd Hollow.

I like playing the bad guys. It's a way of exercising and exorcising my own personal demons.

If the writing is good, I'm there. If it's something I've never done before, I'm up for that, too.

I wanted to make a comfortable living and raise a family, and that's what I did.

I grew up in Murray, Kentucky. My wife is from there, also.

That's the cool thing, when I get to work with people I love. The biggest has probably been Kris Kristofferson on 'Bloodworth.'

I was a rabid 'Seinfeld' fan. Then I did the show, and it ruined the show for me. Not that it ruined the quality of the show, but I had seen behind the curtain at Oz.

I remember on the 'Midnight Special' seeing a video with Meat Loaf. I think it was the 'Bat Out Of Hell' video. It was like this raging huge fat guy, and he's really sexual, and he's really sweaty, and it's really kind of sexy. Like, a fat guy can get the chick. I still am a big fan of 'Bat Out Of Hell.'

I try to physically and mentally immerse myself in whatever it is I am doing. That is good for me as an artist. I am always looking for that part that I have never done before, which makes it all the more difficult, because people want to hire you for what they've already seen you do.

I remember vividly, as a kid, my mother had 'Jesus Was a Capricorn' and used to listen to it over and over and over.

I'm very wary of fawning too much over heroes. There's an old adage that heroes are best kept at arm's length, and in a few instances in my life, that's been true.

Sometimes, I have played something that psychologically sticks with me, that's opposite of where I am. I guess I have a lot of anger in me.