I changed my major to English and I went off to Fort Collins. And within the first couple of weeks, I noticed that they were having auditions for a production in their theater department. They were going to stage Jean Anouilh's Becket, which was a film I loved, with Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton. So I went down and auditioned, and I got the role. I got the Peter O'Toole part. So here I was, a 19-year-old playing King Henry.

Keith Carradine

But I love to be outdoors. I prefer being outdoors to, you know, being inside.

Keith Carradine

knows

I can't put bars on my insides; my love is something I can't hide.

Keith Carradine

bars love-is love

You know, for an actor to come into the midst of that, it's - It can either be difficult and somewhat unnerving, or it can be very embracing and like, kind of stepping into a nice hot tub.

Keith Carradine

actors nice hot

Lee Marvin was just the best. Just the best. And that was the beginning of a friendship that lasted until he died. And the same with Ernie Borgnine. You know, I went up there and did that movie [Emperor Of The North] with those guys, and I actually was with Ernie the night that he died.

Keith Carradine

emperor guy night

He was definitely known as the foremost man killer in the West; however there's controversy about virtually every killing that he was known to have been involved in.

Keith Carradine

killers west men

And so I love films that are kind of rural in atmosphere. And you know, it's just a nice place to be day after day. All be it, it can be hard, it can be hard work. You can get hot.

Keith Carradine

atmosphere nice hard-work

Well you know I've been fan of Tony Hillerman's books for years.

Keith Carradine

fans book years

I think time is elastic. There are moments in my life that are many, many years ago and yet I can conjure them as though it's a second ago. And there are other things that happened maybe last week that seem like ages ago.

Keith Carradine

age years thinking

The Western genre is certainly something with which I'm familiar.

Keith Carradine

genre genre-is familiar

I like the Western genre, I think it's uniquely American.

Keith Carradine

genre western thinking

I mean, it was a rough place ["Wild Bill Hickok"], and you had to wear this kind of cloak that you were a badass, and the most efficient way to do that was with your language. Swearing was just a part of how you got by during the day, and it was quite historically accurate, that depiction.

Keith Carradine

badass bills mean

I'd met Harrison Ford before, but he was just finishing a meet with Jon Favreau and the other producers on the film, and we said "hello" as he walked out and I walked in and sat down and had this meeting with those guys. They basically described what they were looking for, and they thought that I brought a certain amount of authenticity to the genre, and would I want to take part? And I said, "Absolutely! I'd love to!"

Keith Carradine

finishing down-and guy

This ["Cowboys & Aliens"] was an occasion where a studio was willing to spend a lot of money to make a film set in that time and place, but the hook was that they were also going to have aliens from outer space!

Keith Carradine

hook space aliens

You have to realize that Mel [Gibson], he's a funny guy. He's got a wicked sense of humor.

Keith Carradine

sense-of-humor wicked guy

[Mel Gibson] played this kind of sadistic motorcycle cop. He was terrific. And he had this great sense of visual comedy.

Keith Carradine

motorcycle comedy kind

Mel [Gibson] could stage physical comedy and put the camera in such a way... I mean, we did some really funny stuff, and he had some great ideas about how to do it. It was a delight to work with him in that regard.

Keith Carradine

mean way ideas

[Mel Gibson] had just directed The Passion [Of The Christ], and it had just been released as we started production on Complete Savages. But I have to say, nobody ever talked about it, and he never brought any of that to work. He was just delightful, and I had a great time.

Keith Carradine

savages passion christ

I guess at that moment in time I had a certain... presence? A certain level of presence in the industry. But that was at Madonna's request. There was a concept for the video ["Material Girl"], and the idea was that it was kind of a Howard Hughes and Marilyn Monroe sort of idea, that there was this guy behind the scenes making it all happen. And she saw me as that guy, so she asked for me.

Keith Carradine

guy girl ideas

There were rumors that flew about the two of us, which were complete poppycock. There was never any romance between Madonna and myself. I mean, we had a moment where we're kissing in that video [Material Girl], but she at the time was with Sean Penn, and I was married with two kids, so there was no funny business there.

Keith Carradine

girl mean kids

I think people start rumors because it creates interest and it makes people look at things and become more interested in what they're looking at.

Keith Carradine

rumor people thinking