Eric Close

(When asked if he has more confidence now, as opposed to when he was younger)
Eric Close: Oh absolutely, but I think this business is an insecure business. If you want a couple things, I think I would have also told myself to try harder in school. To make more of an effort in school and take advantage of opportunities that life offers. There were times when I was in USC and there were opportunities I didn't take advantage of -- like say trying out for the sailing team as opposed to partying and hanging out all the time and being a bum.

(Remembering his first celebrity sighting)
Eric Close: Oh, absolutely. I still get that. Clint Eastwood is shooting a new movie, and I got to see him -- that was cool. I'm a big fan of his directing. And way back when--13 years ago--I got the chance to meet Tom Cruise. He is a great guy. I feel a little bad for him. He is getting clobbered. The person I met was very humble and very kind. I've always been a fan of his.

Eric Close: When my wife and I were in England I took her to where the movie of Pride and Prejudice, her favorite novel, was filmed, and I recited Mr. Darcy's speech when he tells Elizabeth that he loves her and wants her to be his wife.

Eric Close: One thing I would say is to not worry what other people say about you. I admire people who know who they are at a young age. It can go too far though and they become too self-centered and arrogant, so I don't mean that. There was a recent article in 'USA Today' about saying no and how we have become a culture of yes people. To avoid conflict, we say yes. I would like to go back and say to myself that it is OK to say no--it doesn't mean you are not a good person.

Eric Close: I grew up in a household with a lot of encouragement. We were expected to do well though. I'm more of an artistic sort of person, so school wasn't my strong suit, and my dad is a surgeon. So that was challenging. There was pressure to excel academically, so dad would be happy. My parents have always been supportive in whatever I wanted to try. This is a guy who went to school for 14 years to become a surgeon. Sometimes I think he looks at what I do and says, "Here he is running around and pretending, and he makes a nice living. My son never grew up and he is getting paid for it."

(On "Without a Trace")
Eric Close: The audience responds to a sense of hope. On our show, there's hope that someone is going to be found.

(On life after the TV series 'Now and Again')
Eric Close: I started looking and going, 'Man, where did that six-pack go?' You realize how much work it takes to be in phenomenal shape.

(On getting the role in "Now and Again")
Eric Close: I read the script and went, 'Wow!' I was blown away by it. I'd done a few series before where everything's sort of neatly tied together at the end of every episode, and the villain's usually killed. I was accustomed to that. Here I get to the end and ask, 'What happens?' So when I met with Glenn, I asked him that question. Glenn went on and on and basically came full circle to say to me, 'To be honest, I have no idea where it's going to go and I'm going to leave it at that.'