How was turning 70 last year?
It improves your character. You’re more thoughtful because you don’t act as quickly anymore. When I turned 70 it was the first time I felt young for my age. But 50 dropped on me like a ton of bricks – something about the number.
What’s different now you’re growing older?
I used to be very quick. I’d be able to leave the room and be back before you’d notice it. When you can’t do that anymore you need to change your style of how you do things.
Have you thought about dying?
Plenty. Everybody has thoughts about if they want to buried or cremated. I want a big 25-foot pink statue that holds my grave. But I also like the way the Indians did it. They hang you up on the top of a tree and the birds eat you.
Would you like to live forever?
I always mistrusted anyone who said they didn’t want to live forever. But I changed my mind. The real question is not whether you want to live forever, but do you want to live forever at the expense of your children. If people suddenly stopped dying, we’d have a real ecological problem on our hands.
When did you first realise you’d made it?
During the first screening of Easy Rider in Cannes [in 1969]. I knew while the movie was playing that I was actually going to be a movie star. By then I’d been doing movies for 12 years, but I didn’t have a big success. Everyone said I was good, but being known and not having a success is almost tougher than being completely new. That film turned my life around.
Do you feel like a legend now?
It’s kind of silly. It’s like Medusa’s hair – you don’t look at it because it will paralyze you. When they say I’m a great actor I always close my ears, because it’s not good for you to think that way.
Do you still hit the clubs?
Absolutely. When I ask at a press conference if anybody knows of a good place to go out, I actually hope somebody gets up and tells me. But nowadays I don’t even know the name of a single nightclub in LA.
There was a concert video of Paul McCartney, where you were standing up in the crowd singing “Hey Jude”. Did you know you were being filmed?
No, but I used to be a big time crown prince of rock’n’roll. I went to everybody’s concerts. I used to go to poor old Mick [Jagger]’s concerts trying to be louder than they were on stage. I actually got up once on stage and got thrown out. That was terrible behaviour.
To read the full interview, buy the April ’08 edition of Ralph Magazine. On sale at newsagents.
