I wanted to perform well for my mom and dad because in high school I didn't have a job. My brothers they worked at Pizza Hut or places like that but sports that was my way of giving back.

One thing my dad always told me was he would make sure I always had what he didn't have. He couldn't play basketball because he didn't have tennis shoes - so I had five pairs of tennis shoes.

I feel connected to the Second World War because my father lost his father in that war. So through my dad and the effect it had on him of losing his father young I always felt connected to the war. It goes back years but it still feels to me as if we're completely living in it.

When I was growing up my mother would say 'Your dad may have to learn about being a father because he lost his own and that would have affected him'.

It was tough at the time but when I was younger my Dad. I would say my Dad because without him I wouldn't have been here. I mean it was tough for me because he was really demanding. With him it was never enough you know anything I did was never enough.

I haven't really decided to be an actor yet! I started doing plays when I was about 15 or 16. I only did it because my dad saw a bunch of pretty girls in a restaurant and he asked them where they came from and they said drama group. He said 'Son that is where you need to go.'

I was into the Mets because my Dad worked at IBM where he got free Mets tickets so I was into the Mets... then I got to 'Saturday Night Live' where my boss has unbelievable N.Y. Yankees tickets so he invites us to the games. I'm going to all the games so I might as well root for the team I'm gonna go sit with.

Politicians... talk in generalities and lies and I think they've caused all our grief. They're so awful they're really funny. I hate thinking this because my dad loved politics.

I was into all kinds of music as a teen - country music because my dad was in a band that played country and whatever my sister and brother were into.

My dad has been married to his wife for 15 years and wherever he goes there better be a seat for her. I like real couples that tell you how to get through on Wednesdays when you're just at the end of your rope - the ones who really know how to make it through. We have to stop looking at Hollywood couples because you're going to get disappointed.

Now that I'm a dad I'm practicing what I call 'one- handed cooking ' because I've got something more important in my other arm. I'm whipping up lots of frittatas and omelets.

As a father now I wouldn't do what my dad did because it left me feeling emotionally unstable as a kid. But he didn't do the things he did out of selfishness or malice.

I loved climbing because of the freedom and having time and space. I remember coming off Everest for the last time thinking of Dad and wishing that he could have seen what I saw. He would have loved it.

When I started writing I did have some idealised notion of my dad as a writer. But I have less and less of a literary rivalry with him as I've gone on. I certainly don't feel I need his approval although maybe that's because I'm confident that I've got it.

You have to respect your parents. They are giving you an at-bat. If you're an entrepreneur and go into the family business you want to grow fast. Patience is important. But respect the other party... My dad and I pulled it off because we really respect each other.

Before breaking into music I had various jobs: forklift driver driving a courier. But I was forced into working rather than doing it off my own bat because that was my dad's way: you got a job and paid your way.

I was always embarrassed because my dad wore a suit and my mother wore flat pumps and a cozy jumper while my friends' parents were punks or hippies.

When I moved out of London 13 years ago I found a whole other reason not to drive. This was because my new husband Dan unlike my dad did drive and this became a great source of fun and adventure.

A spirit is like your mother my dad who've made it. They can come around but they come around in a loving way because they've already made it to God. Most people make it.

My sister is totally my dad's daughter because she loves sports.

My dad was the biggest influence on my life because he was never boring.

Also for me it was different because I play a lot of villains and in this one I play a dad and I play a good guy basically. He's the Secretary of the Treasury. I never had a job like that.

I couldn't walk down any street in Britain without being laughed at. It was a nightmare. My children were devastated because their dad was a figure of ridicule.

I have this complex. I don't like too much exposure. I don't know why it is. Maybe it's bred in me because my dad always told me to be humble and don't think you're too good.