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My portraits are filled with affection. These days you read very sugary things about famous people. They're afraid to say anything beyond how much they enjoy everything.
So when you described Sharon Stone as stark raving mad, she didn't call you up, stark raving mad?
You have to be stark raving mad to become an actress. Most people would agree with that, including actresses.
What's the best kind of activism a celebrity can perform?
I know it's very irritating to people sometimes to see a celebrity in a mine- field. But I think part of that irritation is a defensiveness. To those living in the Third World, we're all celebrities, hopelessly self-involved and obsessed by hair products and skin care and things that don't even cross the minds of 86% of the world.
In your book you talk about your affairs with women. Aren't you supposed to be gay?
But you can still have affairs with gorgeous women once in a while, can't you? That's one of the great things about being young. Then you have to come to conclusions about everything. That's the beginning of the rot.
Is Hollywood kinder to a gay actor later in his career, like, say, [Lord of the Rings'] Ian McKellen?
Once you put the wizard's hat on, you can do lots of different things.
Your memoir describes a life lived almost for the pure sensual pleasure of it.
Oh, good. I have always thought that was an actor's duty, to live a life that's extraordinary and dangerous and fascinating.