Magic is the oldest part of the show business profession. It can now be used as a forward-thinking tool to build a child’s confidence. It has been an amazing part in many entertainers’ lives, including Steve Martin and the late Johnny Carson.
Well, when you’re the youngest of five, parents kind of lose interest more and more through the children. I think my eldest brother was under loads of pressure to do something amazing with his life, but by the time I came around they were like, ‘Well, let’s hope he doesn’t kill a guy.’
The most horrifying thing I ever did was work as a steward on an airplane. I wanted to get hired by United. I thought, ‘With my languages, this will be amazing; I will work in First Class.’ But I could only get a job with an airline going from Newark, New Jersey to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
I want to keep doing interesting work with interesting people in whatever form that may take, but I want to play the big parts of classical theatre; I want to go on stage and play great Shakespearean roles and, at the same time, do amazing, challenging indie films and comedy, and I want to do it all. I am greedy.
I would love to work with Anthony Hopkins; I would love to work with Meryl Streep; I would love to work with DeNiro; I would love to work with Johnny Depp; I’d love to work with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow… I think she’s amazing.
I feel really fortunate and grateful that not only do I get to do what I love, but I get to do it and serve a conversation that I feel is necessary culturally. The fact that I get to bring those two passions together is amazing to me – that I get to use my art in order to inform my activism and vice versa!
When you have an audience standing and screaming the entire way through the short program and cheering every element you do, whether it’s footwork, or spin, or a jump, to have that kind of emotion coming at you from every direction in the building, it’s the most amazing sensation you can get as a sportsman.
We get all excited about collaborations. You get excited to hear that Rihanna has something, because Rihanna is a singer, and she has amazing fashion. You want to see what she would create. I don’t get upset and think, ‘Someone else is going to do better than me.’ You’re like, ‘Oh, good for her.’
Music and football are two industries where black people excel, because talent is undeniable. You can’t deny an amazing voice. You can’t deny amazing athletic prowess. Physically, it’s evident. But in other industries, circumstance is more of a thing.
My general view is that capitalism is an amazing innovation and job-creation machine. But what we’ve done historically that has been so brilliant is that we’ve moderated it with appropriate tax policy, with regulation, with workers’ rights and infrastructure in our society that make sure that everyone has an opportunity.
Clients like Kerry Washington stay energized by substituting high carb, high fat foods with a diet rich in lean protein and low-calorie, fiber-rich vegetables. These foods not only keep you trim but have an amazing impact on the shape of the body, the appearance of skin, hair, and nails.
UFC is UFC, and God bless them, they have the largest roster and some amazing fighters, but there’s amazing fighters everywhere. That’s why I am impressed with what Bellator has attempted to do with the tournament or with Aaron Pico and some of the younger talent.
Florence Nightingale was an amazing figure. She created the American Red Cross. She saw the suffering from bad health conditions on the battlefield and in the military hospitals, and she fought like crazy to change the conditions; to make sure that the doctors washed their hands and practiced sanitary measures. She put herself at great risks.
I knew that modeling could open doors, and I would be able to travel and forge my own path. Being able to support yourself is amazing, and I think that was one of the things that appealed to me, but I didn’t want to be in front of the camera at first.
Out of culinary school, I worked as a pastry cook in amazing restaurants for years. I ended up leaving the pastry cook scene because, though I loved the industry, the restaurants and the chefs I worked for so much, I had to be honest with myself. I was never going to be them.
I’ve got some incredible fans actually – so loyal and they make me birthday cards and Christmas cards. I got this package of poems and artwork based around the songs. They’ve got this thing called ‘Floetry’ where they all have to put in artwork. They’ve set up their own competitions and stuff which is kind of amazing.
New York has an amazing history of farming and fishing that goes right back to the Pilgrim Fathers. At its core are the four seasons, which are distinct, well-established and similar to those in Lyon, where my family lives: when it’s snowing in New York, a week later it will be snowing there.
It is very nice Kasper has now also won the Premier League, too. I am very proud; I think he has done a fantastic job. It has been amazing to bring this lad into the world and bring him up and hear his wishes and hopes for the future, his ambitions; he made it fairly clear early on that he wanted to become a footballer.
I think the greatest hip-hop artist of all time is Jay-Z, without a doubt. He just keeps amazing me with his performance, and since ‘96, that guy has been producing at least one hit every summer and every winter. That’s a pretty good resume.
I’ve had to make time to really explore all the amazing things that are out and try to understand the history of how fashion has moved through modern times and how it shaped everything, from overall aesthetic to design to how it’s influenced the great artists of our time.
I’ve been diving for about 30 years, and I can honestly say that I’ve had some amazing encounters with sharks, squids, and other whales. But the encounter with the right whales in the Auckland Islands was probably the best thing I’ve ever done. It was just that amazing.
I tried to be like the richer kids as much as I could because I wanted to live on their streets, at least hang out on their streets and eat their amazing food and walk barefoot on their shag carpets. I became something of a pest in that way, and in general, other people’s parents didn’t like me.
The X is an amazing car, but we kind of got carried away with the art and technology. Obviously, you want great art. You want great technology. But we did get a little distracted from our mission, which was to advance the cause of electric vehicles. And it probably delayed us a little bit with the Model 3 as well.
I love heels, and as a size 36, I’ve accumulated a wall of amazing high heels from catwalk shows over the years where designers had to make especially small shoes. Tom Ford’s golden versions are my favourite. I do, however, also live in my flat Saint Laurent Chelsea boots or Givenchy sneakers.
It was amazing to watch him in the darkroom at an advanced age, still get excited when the results were pleasing. He still struggled like we all do in the darkroom and he struggled behind the camera, and when he had a success he was beaming.
