[Steve McQueen Interview]

Donald Zec interviews American film actor Steve McQueen as part of Anglia's "Shooting Stars" television series.

Donald Zec interviews film actor, Steve McQueen. The interviewer asks McQueen why he is sporting a beard. McQueen answers that he grew a beard for his part in the film Hell is for Heroes (1962), and he likes it so continued to grow it, however will need to remove it for his next acting part. The interviewer asks about the successes the actor had before appearing in The Magnificent Seven (1960). McQueen recalls hitchhiking to New York, getting a scholarship at a drama school, doing small parts on TV, and a Broadway show, before hitchhiking to California, which was when he was hired to play a cowboy in a series which proved popular. The interviewer asks, What did McQueen have that meant he was wanted for Western movies? McQueen says he was possibly the closest thing already to a cowboy owing to already knowing about horses. He talks about his background, and his start in life on a mid-Western-state farm in Missouri. The interviewer asks what kind of educational background does he have. McQueen studied as far as 8th grade, but owes much of his education to “reality”. He talks about success, and contentment with family and numerical wealth. The interviewer asks why he is interested in cars and race driving. McQueen talks about overcoming fear. He talks about avoiding the danger of crashing. He is in England to make a picture, The War Lover (1962), which is being directed by Philip Leacock of Ealing Studios, and McQueen’s character will be quite different to the type he usually plays. He will be playing a WWII bomber pilot, so a different type of hero from the cowboy. McQueen talks about his wife, Neile Adams, also an actor, but who hasn’t worked in a while due to raising children. McQueen says his daughter is much like him – “nuts”, and his son much like his wife – very tolerant and calmer. Apart from films and driving fast cars, what else interests Steve McQueen? He says “everything”; but what frightens him is nuclear warfare.

Keywords

Acting; Actors; American cinema; British cinema; Films; Motion pictures; Performances; Personalities.