Dan Aykroyd
PH: Do you feel you've reached a kind of plateau now?
Aykroyd: Well, it's still an uphill climb, you know. It's still a struggle. But I've been very fortunate so far, no question. I try not to predict what's going to happen in the future. I never did have any preconceived notions about what I was going to do. Although, when I was twelve years old my parents put me in improvisational classes. And in the back of my head I kind of fugured that if I stayed with this, I'd end up in Hollywood doing movies. It wasn't exactly a wish. It was like, "Well, the logical development of this kind of work is the film industry."
PH: Why did your parents enroll you in improvisation classes?
Aykroyd: they saw they had a hpyeractive kid who needed direction. I wasn't interested in sports. I had a drum kit, but that was the only musical outlet I had at that time. So they saw they had a kid with a fast rap and big mouth, so they put me in classes with other kids like that.
PH: Do you think your fast rap ever gets you in trouble?
Aykroyd: Oh, I sometimes put my foot right in my mouth, no question. I'm sometimes too frank with people--too open and too frank and too straight. I believe in the cards being above the table and I don't bullshit around. I hurt people's feelings sometimes. Sometimes I can make real mistakes that way, too. The biggest mistake I probably ever made was when the rock group Devo came to me at "S.N.L." and gave me their tape. This was two years before they appeared on "S.N.L." I looked at it and said to the rest of the staff, "Now, I've just seen the worst tape I've ever seen. These guys are nuts. I don't know what they're trying to say, what they're trying to communicate. Does anybody want to look at it?" On my recommedation, they all said no. Two years later Devo was the biggest group around. So I delayed their appearance on the show, and perhaps their careers, just because I felt strongly that this was not the type of material that should go on the show--and I said it. After I left, the tape was on in a second. they screened the very same tape I looked at.
PH: Did you change your opinion of the group?
Aykroyd: Yeah, I think their music is quite valid now. I like it a lot. Maybe I helped them! Maybe I helped their timing; maybe they wouldn't have broken that well two years earlier than they did.
PH: Do you like rock music in general?
Aykroyd: Oh, yeah. I love all music. Everything.
PH: Did you take the Blues Brothers seriously?
Aykroyd: Well, we thought it was a parody at first, but then we started to get in with these heavyweight musicians and we realized, "Hey, we've got to be pros here." I had to learn how to play harmonica, and I now consider myself the George Plimpton of blues harmonica. That's as far as my ability takes me. Although some would say that I can play decent rhythm harp and I can jam with a sax. You put me in with a horn section, I'll fit right in. No problem. I'm not good playing lead harp. there are much better people around: Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Curtis Salgado, who used to play with the Robet Cray band, Pat Hayes of the Lamont Cranston Band, Donnie Walsh of the Downchild Blues Band. I admire and love all of their work.
PH: What comedians do you admire?
Aykroyd: Phil Silvers, Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz. These are the ones I learned from. If I were to give advice to young people who want to get into this business, by no means would I encourage them, because it's really rough and it takes it's toll. But it can be the best business in the world. You can be extremely successful and make a lot of money and gratify yourself artistically in this business like you can in no other. In what other business in the world can you invest $10 milion and make back $7 million? This is it.
PH: Are you concerned about doing a movie without John?
Aykroyd: I know I can carry my own. I know that this project is tailored to me. I think it shows off a lot of my abilities. I feel very secure about the project. Obviously I miss having the other motor home next door playing loud rock music. I miss all the fun it was to have him around.
PH: Would you like to do a straight role?
Aykroyd: It's not a burning desire. I think I've got to ride the peak of comedy for now. I don't think people would be interested in seeing me in a dramatic piece. And I like doing this. I like doing roels that are based in reality, rooted in reality, but then take off from there and get weird and far out. I like it when the tether to earth is cut halfway through the picture.
PH: Do you think films display your comedic talents more than television?
Aykroyd: I don't know. I think both mediums do it well. Certainly in television I could do more, more concepts, more free thinking.
PH: Do you think some of your memorable television pieces could sustain a movie--the Coneheads, your portrayal of Nixon, the "wild and crazy guys"?
Aykroyd: I think so. The Blues Brothers were just a musical bit on "S.N.L." and they sustained a movie. And I really think Steve Martin and I should take the wild and crazy guys through a movie. We've discussed it. I think it's definitely in the future.
PH: What is the Dan Aykroyd philosophy on women?
Aykroyd: I wouldn't say I have a philosophy. I wouldn't be so bold as to assume that I could philosophize abut such a complex and excitement-filled entity as womankind. I have this to say about women: I'm aware of the male and female sides in all human beings. I have a strong female side. That would be the instinctive, the intuitive, the perceptive side. I think women have a special skill in these areas somehow.
As far as my relationships are concerned, I'm totally heterosexual, always have been, always will be. I've made a decision not to marry or have children. I intend to remain single for life.
PH: Even if you met Ms. Right?
Aykroyd: I have special women friends who I keep in contact with. A very few. I'm discriminating. I'm not promiscuous by any means. The women with whom I have relationships are women who like a one-on-one thing. And I am capable of loyalty when I'm together with that woman. If we're in different countries or cities, then I don't think that loyalty is practical. If it's for a day or two days or two weeks, then fine. But beyond that, I like to explore new relationships. And I appreciate womankind. I love the company of women. I sometimes prefer the company of women to men, just in terms of sitting and rapping with them. Listening to what they have to say. They take me into their confidence, I think. They kind of get a vibe about me that I'm not into the conquest or macho thing.
PH: Has there been a great love in your life yet?
Aykroyd: Well, my first one, when I was seventeen.
PH: What happened?
Aykroyd: We still see each other. We keep in contact and get together at least once a year. And that's a true joy in my life. I want to open up a little more to her, too, but it's hard, with my time schedule. It's tough.
PH: Has a woman ever broken your heart?
Aykroyd: Yes, I've been burned badly three times. I would say I got over all of them except one. I don't know if I can be in the same room with her now, it's that bad. She's a real blueblood, that one. An Englishwoman of extremely good breeding and character. I think I was a little below her station in life.
I almost got married once. I'm still friends with the girl. She's very special. She didn't burn me. Perhaps closer to the end of life I might consider some kind of permanent relationship with her.
PH: Do you have an image of the perfect woman?
Aykroyd: Sure, the perfect woman has a bachelor of science in mathematics, flies an F-16, is a millionairess, and owns a liquor store.
PH: What does she look like?
Aykroyd: Well, you know, I like beauty, but I see beauty in conversation; I see beauty in the eyes before I see it anywhere else. Obviously, I like the type of woman that appeals to the average male, like the type that appears in Penthouse--but I'm flexible. But discriminating. Very discriminating. And very careful. I must say, one has to be very careful in today's world of sexual encounter, not to pick up any questionable ailment. And so far I'm safe.
PH: Some people think that the fear of contracting veneral diseases is turning people off sex.
Aykroyd: I think people are being a lot more careful now. And I will say this about myself: I am perfectly willing to take the responsibility of contraception on myself. I think that the Pill is bad for women. I know many women who can't take the Pill becuase it affects them in an adverse way. We know that coils hurt women inside; they're not organic. The oldest method known to man is the safest--the sheath--and consequently I have been a purchaser of some of these products and I swear by them. I think that a woman appreciates a man who is willing to take on that responsibility. And I'm perfectly willing to do that.
PH: If the perfect girl came along, you wouldn't change your mind about marriage?
Aykroyd: I'm pretty well set on a single life.
PH: Does that affect your relationships?
Aykroyd: I'm honest about it. I mean, I'm capable of love and affection and tenderness and openness and all those things. As far as a long-term, year-to-year thing goes, I'm capable of that, too, but not all the time. I'm not going to be beholden to just one woman. I'm not going to be tied down. I can't be exclusively possessed by someone or a possessor of someone. I'm quite honest and truthful about this. I have to have my space and be alone. I have to be alone six or seven hours a day to write. And I don't think I'm in a business or a life-style that is contributive to sustaining a relationship. It's just too hard. I see too many friends who have been divorced, some with children, and that's tragic. So if a woman wants to know me on that basis, I will be her friend for life, I will be a companion, I will be there for her if she needs anything. So what all this may mean is that I might sacrifice continual warmth and companionship and may end up a lonely old man, but I'll be a lonely old guy of my own free will, a lonely old free guy.
PH: What about children?
Aykroyd: Well, I'm going to be an excellent godfather and uncle, but I will not be a father, I've decided. I've seen sons and daughters of show businesses people who suffer from all kinds of psychological problems. I don't want to put the stigma of a show business name on someone else. My work will be around after I'm gone; if I had children, they would have to deal with the "Oh, you were his son" syndrome. The kid would have to go through life bouncing off my past. It's not fair.
Also, I couldn't set up a home life for a child. "Hey, where's Dad?" "Well, he had to go off to Chicago to hear a blues band." "Who are you?" "I'm the new maid." I wouldn't want to lay that on a kid. And I wouldn't want to drag the child screaming all over the world or wherever I'm going.
PH: Other successful, busy people manage to overcome these problems.
Aykroyd: Sure, I have some friends who seem to be doing all right. I see some good family situations. But I think I move a lot faster and more frequently than these people. I can't be in one place longer than a month without moving, without just getting away for a week. I have to keep going. Like Richard Pryor, when he caught on fire, he ran down the street and dept running down the street and kept running, and that kept him alive. To me, it's not as extreme situation, but in life Ihave to keep moving--changing circumstances and sights and sounds. And even if they're sights and sounds I've seen before, I'm on a rotating drum that I have to keep moving on. And that keeps my juices going; it keeps my energy up. I don't spend idle time very well.
PH: Have you always been like this?
Aykroyd: Yes, I was incredibly hyperactive as a child.
PH: Did you get in trouble?
Aykroyd: Yes, I was a little bit of a discipline problem in school. God bless the priests who put up with me and tried to put me in line.
PH: You were a practicing Catholic?
Aykroyd: Oh, yes, absolutely up until the age of seventeen. It's still a big thing with me. I do have some belief in a supernatural being, although I don't know exactly what form it has. I live by the Ten Commandment. Even if you're not religious, they're a pretty good code to live by.
PH: What happened when you were seventeen?
Aykroyd: Well, I don't know. I just fell away from the church, from the organization of going to Mass every Sunday. But it's something I could go back to. I could feel very comfortable at Mass, watching it all and communing with people like that. The Catholic Church has a great sacrament, and that's confession. It's like a free psychiatrist for five or ten minutes.
PH: Is there anything you would like people to know about you that's not now known?
Aykroyd: That I'm a pretty regular human being and I'm approachable, and that I don't mind people coming up and talking to me. That I like feedback and I relate to the common man--I mean the common mass of humanity. I am one. We all are. I relate to that concept that humankind is interconnected. And that individuals are like snowflakes. Beautiful, inside and out, for the fact that they exist in and unto themselves and also that they are linked, that we are all linked. I want people to know that that's the way I think. I'm not on some pedestal looking down. I am on earth, with my feet firmly planted on the ground. And that movie stars and all that stuff is just a job and an occupation. That people should really realized that it's fantasy, what we're making out here, and that in the real world other things exist. And that I want to be taken, at face value, as a real human being who is capable of communication and warmth and love and charity. That's what I'd like people to know.
END
Interview by Allan Sonnenschein, January 1983
Transcribed by L. Christie
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