I was reading the Parade section of the Sunday Paper this morning (behind, much) and found an interview with Christian Slater especially interesting. For one thing, as the writer points out, Christian Slater does resemble Jack Nicholson. It’s a wonder they haven’t been cast in father/son roles by now. If a movie is ever made about Jack Nicholson, they won’t have to look far for the lead actor.
As a movie fanatic, it’s only natural that this little tidbit jumped out at me. But the part of the article where Christian Slater talks about the moment he realized he needed to turn his life around. You may remember that he was in trouble at one time for drinking, drugs, and even an arrest record. He has been sober for years now, but doesn’t expect or want to be congratulated for it. In his words, “It’s like expecting a reward for running out of a burning building.”
I doth love that attitude.
As a advocate of Self Help – emphasis on self, I also loved the following part of the interview. Christian’s words are in bold, the non-bold words are those of the author of the article, James Kaplan:
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…Cleaning up his act became a long, hard process.
“I sat down and asked myself, ‘What are the things that haunt me or make me feel insecure, and what can I do about them? Instead of spending the rest of my life going, ‘I am just the victim of this stuff,’ what can I do to tackle it and get over it?’”
So he made a to-do list. Or rather a to-change list.
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(Back to Joi. Sorry.) Wow! A list. Come on, you know me – I’m all about lists. By this point of the article, I was so turned on I couldn’t sit still. Within one article, I hadHollywood, the process of Self Help, AND the voyeuristically charged account of someone making a list. If the article had included the men drinking coffee (Slater drank water. Eh.) and plans for saving Polar Bears, my husband would have had to call in to work.
Seriously, this is absolute perfection. You have a young man who knows he needs to change his approach to life. So, where does he start. With himself. As Cicero said, “Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself.” I love how Christian Slater worded it: “‘What are the things that haunt me…” “Haunting” is exactly what these demons are and we all have them in our lives – whether they’re insecurities, losses, childhood issues, resentments, mistakes, guilt… Sadly, the list goes on.
They find you, wherever you happen to be and interrupt whatever you happen to be doing. Like a ghost in a campy horror film – they seem intent on destroying your happiness and, ultimately, your world.
If you let them.
The best part of the article is when Christian Slater turns and faces the “ghosts” instead of running from them. They don’t like to be faced, you know. Confrontation’s not what they’re about – they just like to haunt. He turned his life around and now has a happier family life (with two beautiful children) and a brand new series called, “My Own Worst Enemy” on NBC. The promos look really good, I can’t wait to check it out. I hope he has enormous success, he’s fought hard for it.
To read the interview online, click HERE.
