So I've had an interest in the military, in the Army, for many years and this was an opportunity to experience a little bit of what they experience. it was an eye opening wakeup call. I got to tell you, our military is in great shape. Ricky Schroder More Quotes by Ricky Schroder More Quotes From Ricky Schroder I think my family's watched me over the years in my career, in my pursuit of my career, and they've seen the challenges and the struggles that come with being an actor, with being a writer and a director, and the challenges of morphing my career in from just being an actor into a writer/director. Ricky Schroder struggle years thinking I love being on set, because I've basically grown up on a set. And now I love to contribute as a director and help steer the ship, if you will. Ricky Schroder ships helping directors I met the Queen, the Pope, and we went all over Europe and Asia. I just wish I was older when I did all this. Then I could appreciate it more. Ricky Schroder appreciate queens europe I never thought I was good enough actually to write. Ricky Schroder good-enough enough writing My sympathies go out to the young performers today because they are under a microscope in a way I wasn't. Now everybody's got a camera phone and can record at will or take pictures of you. It's just a different world. I don't know how I would have fared back then. Ricky Schroder records phones different I play a lot of chess. I probably played 200 games while we were making 'Andromeda.' Ricky Schroder games play chess I've found joy, peace and perspective. Those are very good things to have. Ricky Schroder perspective good-things joy It's difficult being a child actor. I don't think everything beautiful has to be exploited. Some things can be beautiful and left beautiful. Ricky Schroder beautiful children thinking 'Silver Spoons' was great memories - absolutely the best. Ricky Schroder spoons silver memories I always had a separate life than just my work. I built my own family. I have my own hobbies and interests. I have a ranch with livestock and horses. I didn't always get my self-esteem and identity from acting. I never worked unless I wanted to. I never did anything just to do it, just for the paycheck. I always did things that I liked. Ricky Schroder horse acting self-esteem I became a country music fan in 1990 when I moved to Colorado. It was my first exposure to it because I'm from a city. I've been a fan of country music ever since. Ricky Schroder fans cities country I think that if there's some innovative entrepreneurs out there who can help teach people how they can cost-effectively help themselves and their planet, I think everybody would be for it. That's going to be the challenge - figuring a way to get the marketplace and commerce to teach us consumers another way. Ricky Schroder entrepreneur people thinking A horrible script 99 percent of the time means a horrible movie. But if you start with a good script, odds are you're going to have a good movie. Ricky Schroder good-movie odds mean I had to go there and do it because getting into the field with the soldiers and gaining the trust of the soldiers that you embed with is crucial and key, if you don’t have their trust and they don’t believe that what you're doing is a fair shake for them, they won’t give you that access, and they won’t give you the openness that you need to produce something like that. Ricky Schroder entertainment It was an eye opening wakeup call. I got to tell you, our military is in great shape, if there's a perception out there that somehow our Army is tired after 13 years of war, I didn't see it. I saw really committed people who were battle tested and professionals. Ricky Schroder entertainment I was never really comfortable doing comedy. Though it was good the first couple of years, there were problems, and it became a stifling experience. I was happy it ended. Ricky Schroder problems good experience happy There were always moments where I'd say, 'What else can I do with my life?' But when I was 30 years old and discovered I could write - I wrote 'Black Cloud' in six weeks - it opened up a whole new world for me. Ricky Schroder my-life me black life Working on 'NYPD Blue' and '24', those two series, I did full runs on those. It's great work, but everything has to align. The producers have to want you; the network has to want you; there has to be great writing; and it's not as easy as it may appear to the outsiders to make all those things align. Ricky Schroder great you work blue When I turned 18, my agent was like, 'You should change from Ricky to Rick.' So I thought it was a good idea. Rick never really fit. I tried for 18 years to make it work, and no one wanted to call me Rick. It should always have been Ricky. That's what it always should have been, so I'm going back to it. Ricky Schroder good me change work