You are 60 now. Where does the time go?
Poof, you know, who knows? I don't know where that goes but it's amazing. I mean, you know, I feel like about 18 or 19 years old inside, sometimes, on a good day.
You play the guitar, but before this movie, would you sing along with yourself ?
Oh yeah, I have been playing music and performing music since I was a teenager really, yeah. I put out an album a couple of years ago called, Be Here Soon. I got to be good friends with Michael McDonald who produced that album along with my buddy Chris Pelonis and we formed a record label called Ramp. So I hope there is some more music in my future. I love music.
Is there something about show business that maybe the highs are so high that the lows get so low?
I think a lot of us can relate to that whether we are in showbiz or not, you know. When everything is kind of going cool, it's frightening you know, because there is only one way to go once you get to the top. So some entertainers and people even who aren't in show business will numb themselves to slow it down. And then with performers, a guy like Bad Blake (JB's character in Crazy Heart), that suffering that you're experiencing becomes sort of the place where you mine your songs and your creativity. So you create this myth about it. Like, I have to suffer like this to get my songs, you know? It is this vicious circle and I love the way my favourite lines in the thing are songs, you know, "I Used to be Somebody and Now I am Somebody Else".
The Oscar buzz at this time, you are 60, is it still as exciting after a life in show business?
Oh, it's thrilling, you know, to get the nod from your peers. It's wonderful, especially when it's a movie that you enjoyed making so much and you know, you're so excited about. There are so many places where it can fall, or a movie could fall short. You can have a great time making it and it can not paste together well, you can have a great time making it and it goes together well but there's no distribution, you know. This movie, it all clicked. It was great.
Tell us about singing with Colin Farrell. How did that go?
One of the things about doing movies, especially ones like this, where you've got to come up with the goods pretty quick - we did this in 24 days - you've got to find your comrades that are going to jump to it and all. Everybody who worked in this movie wanted - were game. "Come on, let's go! Let's go quick, we don't have much time! Let's get deep quick," you know. And I've admired Colin ever since I saw him in Tigerland. I've just followed his career, In Bruges I thought was a wonderful movie and then the guy can sing. There's nothing like harmonising with your fellow actors because that's basically what it's all about is singing together in a sense or dancing together.
And so it was a joy working with him and he worked for about four or five days I think is all and just, you know, knocked that part out of the park. It was great.
You're filling John Wayne's shoes. Are you into True Grit now?
Well no, it's a new work and we're going to make it but I haven't really started the part. I am just starting to do that a bit.
Any trepidation about stepping into those boots?
No, I'm excited, man, working with The Coen Brothers again. That's a good thing for me.
