Rocky Carroll

Rocky: The actors that I've always looked up to, De Niro, Pacino, Meryl Streep, when I was growing up, Jack Nicholson… even now, there's still an air of mystery about them. You may know a lot about them but you're not inundated with their personal lives. And it allows you, when you see them on the screen, and when they say I'm playing a lawyer, or a construction worker, you buy it. You go with them on it because your mind is not cluttered with all these preconceived images about their life. Does that make sense?

Rocky: I always said I don't want to be one of those actors who, when my face first comes up on the screen, people spend the first 10 minutes talking about my pending divorce, my DUI charge or whether or not I just got out of rehab, as opposed to really believing me as a character.

Rocky: You know, there's an old saying, most great careers are 15 to 20 years in the making. In our American Idol type of society these days, it's kind of like, "Hey, I've been waiting 6 weeks for fame and success. How come things haven't taken off?" For me, in the 19 years I've been in this town as an actor, I've seen the hottest names come and go. There's an art to being a good actor, there's an art to being a celebrity, and there's an art to longevity. Samuel L. Jackson is a friend of mine, and he's one of the few people who have mastered it all. He's always good, he stays current, and he understands the public. It's the art of surviving in this town.