Fred Willard

My stepfather was a military man: he was in the Air Force. Reserve. You thought he'd seen front-line action, but he was stationed in Cleveland. ”

There's different kinds of improv. There's Second City improv where you try to slowly build a nice sketch. There's stuff you do in college coffee houses where you just go joke, joke, joke. Bring another funny character with a funny hat on his head. Christopher Guest is more the line of trying to get a story out. ”

I had just done a movie called 'How to Beat the High Cost of Living,' and it didn't get a good review. And the same people sent me the script for 'Airplane!' for the Robert Hays part. I read it, and there were a lot of plays on words, and I said, 'I don't like this kind of comedy.' ”

Comedy always came easier for me. But I would have loved to have been an action hero. ”

I try to shy away from playing cranky people, but if it's just a funny next-door neighbor or business man, I'll say, 'Sure, why not?' ”

I guess the essence of my comedy is to get into a very abnormal situation but act like it's normal. ”

I have always been more relaxed around comedy. ”

Comedy is harder, because if there's no laughs, it's pretty bad. But drama, if there's no reaction, you can say, 'Well, it's not their cup of tea. Maybe it's too heavy for the audience.' ”

Comedy relieves you. A lot of times, we think we're the only people bothered by certain things. Then you hear a comic say, 'Don't you hate it when...' And it's, 'Oh, my God! Of course!' ”

If you're going to take a risk as a comic, make sure it's surrounded by other things that you're certain are funny. ”