Q. Do you have a clear picture in your mind of what you hope to achieve?
My farthest goal right now is the Monkee movie.
Q. Is that as far as you’ve set your sights?
Yes, because this time next year I might not be an actor anymore. I might change my mind. However, I will be an actor as long as I feel I can give a little enjoyment and make people laugh a little more. As soon as I stop laughing myself, I’ll go into something else. So I don’t know.
Q. Do you usually try and discover and remove your faults and weaknesses?
Yes, to the best I can. The problem is, once you get rid of one fault one week, there’s always another to take its place. Otherwise life would be very uneventful and very boring.
Q. Do you feel your current position is too hard to maintain?
I was just reading Tiger Beat presents “Micky Dolenz” book, which is a gas, and Micky really said something that struck me. “It’s no picnic being a Monkee… it’s hard and it’s a grind… but it’s worth it.” That’s the way I feel too. As long as the finished product looks good, then all our work is worth it.
Q. Can you stand alone in a crisis?
Oh, sure. Every crisis that comes up you really handle it yourself. No matter how you decided what to do or how much advice someone gives you, in the end it’s you that makes the decision. That’s why I really hate the concept of a psychiatrist. I think that’s a joke. You tell him your problems, he’s not going to be able to help, you’re just getting them off your chest, but that’s a cop out. You could do the same thing inside your mind.
Q. Are your spare-time activities constructive or merely time consuming?
I think they’re constructive. Right now my spare time is devoted to my house—cleaning it up, you know. I found myself in the garage yesterday and I plan to turn it into a recording studio and there I was on my hands and knees scrubbing floors, just because it’s my house. I wanted to do it. I don’t have a maid or anything.
Q. Is your health what it should be?
I’m not as fit as I usually am, but I’m still in good shape. I can still run the mile with the best of them and I do a lot of exercising.
Q. Is your sense of humor what it should be or does it need to be cultivated?
I’m learning all the time. I think I’m funnier now than I was when I first started. You never stop learning and I learn from almost every person I meet.
Q. Do you prefer flattery or honest opinion?
I prefer honest flattery.
Q. Is it difficult for you to think under pressure?
No, that’s when I think best, when somebody’s on my back. When I’m in a corner of a room I fight the best. I fight the hardest because I want to get out of the corner.
Q. When it comes to relaxing, can you “let go” immediately?
No, I can only relax gradually. I think if I lie down to relax I still have the last thing that was on my mind going through my head. I never lie down and just lie down like most people, I’m always thinking, every minute.
Q. What’s the easiest way for you to relax?
I don’t relax until I’m asleep.
Q. How do you rid yourself of fear and worry?
The peak of fear only lasts about two seconds and if you think about what’s going to happen, it just makes it worse. Like if you worry about something it just magnifies the problem. I’m never really worried to the point of fear. I just take things lightly. I figure if something is going to happen, it’s going to happen.
Q. Do you believe in hunches and are you influenced by them?
No, not really. It’s kind of like astrology. It’s fun to read about and when it correlates with real life, it’s groovy to think about it.
When I used to make bets on horses, I wouldn’t choose one by looking at them and saying “wow, that’s a good horse, he’s got good muscles and good legs and this and that.” I would pick a horse by the racing knowledge I had, looking at the form like where he had run before and maybe the inconsistency of his record, things like that. You’ve got to really study racing.
