Arsenio Hall on Being Intimidated By His First Big Acting Role

Reporter: Is this all intimidating to you?Arsenio Hall: It’s very intimidating. I’ve done two acting things in my life prior to this movie. I did “Alfred Hitchcock” where I was a reporter who played a prank on my boss and he died, and I did a cameo in a John Landis film called “Amazon Women on the Moon,” a little slapstick piece, my tribute to Chevy Chase. And all of the sudden I’m between Eddie Murphy and James Earl Jones and scared to death, you know, because I found out a lot of acting has nothing to do with the stuff they teach you in class, you know? It’s like in class you’re doing your scene with your partner, nobody tells you about the days your partner’s not there and you work to John Landis’ hand behind the camera, and have to cry to a hand or something, or hit your mark, or lean a certain way so the light doesn’t hit the glasses of the character you’re playing. I mean all that stuff to think about AND act. It’s very complicated, but I’m giving it everything I’ve got because I love it.Reporter: Did you find that a lot of everything has nothing to do with what they teach you in class?Hall: Exactly. Exactly. You find out all those classes – they’re not worthless, but there’s so many things that they don’t prepare you for.