About Tom Berenger: Tom Berenger is an American television and motion picture actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Platoon (1986).
I have family obligations and all that stuff. I get my kids six weeks in the summer, which is a real intense period of time. I'm with them every minute of the day.
Even my agents say, We don't know what this business is anymore.
These days, you can do a TV series for five years and all of a sudden be on top of the business. Features don't even run in theaters very long anymore before going right to television.
Most of what gets made now, you laugh your way through, go home and forget you've seen it.
There's a hysterical, tired sense of humor that comes after working 14 hours a day, six days a week. I like those things because they take the pressure off the constant stress.
I guess if I weren't an actor, I'd be a history professor.
I was so exhausted after fighting for the project for five years, shooting it was like the Bataan Death March.
To people outside, they think, Gee, that's great. You get to go here and there. The other side of that is our expression, This is location, not vacation.
Every other movie is one of those action things. I mean, 'Lost in Space'? A bunch of good actors running around shooting at special effects on a soundstage? I took my kids to see that and felt like I was on an acid trip.
I don't think a director should have any kids. I don't even think it's good for your physical health. Even guys in their 30s look exhausted because directors never get enough sleep. What I do is stressful enough.
We had training camp for a week, and we used the actual military drills of that period. We didn't have to work out much after hours, because going up and down hills all day was a good workout in itself.
I had already done a lot of research for Rough Riders, keeping notebooks and old photographs. Some of the books were antiques for that time period, with the covers falling off.
I'm probably satisfied with my career 80 percent of the time.
I feel more comfortable doing films with groups of guys. It's a lot easier for me. There's a difference with women: you can't take them to dinner every night and go crazy.
