And she's made one or two mistakes along the way, but she's ultimately had the strength to continue being that empress, you know, for a fuck of a long time. And I think it takes quite a strong man to say, "My woman will always achieve more than I ever will, she will always have more power than I'll ever have, and she will probably be more popular than I'll ever be. And I don't care. " EB: Because he loved her. RF: Yes. And that, to me, is about as close to the definition of a man as I've ever gotten. EB: I know that, in addition to acting, you wrote and produced a short film, but would you ever want to direct? RF: I don't know. I think it's a very hard job to do well. You're kind of responsible for everyone and everything. There are two qualities that I've noticed in good directors: One is that they have their vision very strongly in place; and two is that they listen to everyone's opinion and still remember their vision. People who don't listen to anyone else tend to get it wrong, and people who sort of dither between what everyone else says do too.
EB: Really? RF: You said he was like a wild animal, and then I think you wanted to say something like, "among the tame cats, " but I think you miffed it. EB: Rupert, this is what annoys me about you. RF: [ laughs] But, yes, okay. And then on the back of Brando, I would say that Elia Kazan and Tennessee Williams and that period of writing and directing became a big thing for me. And then Paul Newman and that side of things. And then, in terms of writing, there were people like Dylan Thomas and Jack Kerouac. I did a lot of reading into Kerouac and his contemporaries. I mean, On the Road completely changed the way I looked at what you could do with your life. EB: Were your parents concerned about you going into this business? RF: I mean, it's a pretty risky one. And it's tough because you probably don't want your kids to take risks. But then you realize that they like taking them. EB: I know it's obnoxious when actors talk about acting, but do you feel like what we do is a worthwhile job?