What I’ve Learned: Tom Selleck

You Never Know

baseball in our little neighbourhood. I got ahold of one and it broke a window. We all scattered and ran to our houses. My mom found out about it. I said, “Are you going to tell Dad?” She said, “No. You’re going to tell Dad.”

to fly off the handle. He said, “Thank you for telling me. I’ll see you in the morning.” In the morning, he took me down the block to the Rockwell house. He said, “Knock on the door and tell him.” Mr. Rockwell answered. I said, “I’m the one who broke your window.” He said, “Thank you for telling me.”

the house and measured the window, and then my dad took me to the hardware store and bought all the stuff to replace a window. We replaced that window.

on the USC basketball team, riding the pine.

a lot of things through then. I was on academic probation every year, always on the edge, almost ineligible once.

have the school record for shooting percentage. A thousand percent. I was two for two, over two years.

from the draft if you were in college. I had signed a contract at 20th Century Fox, and I was in their new-talent program. I didn’t have a student deferment anymore. So I was either going to be drafted or I’d volunteer for the Army.

the California Army National Guard and did six years. I’m proud to be a vet.

of active duty, I drove down from Fort Ord in Monterey. I wore my uniform because I wanted to have it on when I saw my folks. It was a very difficult time in the country. Military veterans weren’t treated very well. The country was going in a different way, and I didn’t agree.

. Nobody remembers it.

My big brother Bob, who was playing with the Dodgers in the minor leagues, watched it and got very quiet. He said, “That was nice.” Then my parents called, and my dad was very quick. He said, “You were great. I’ll put your mom on.” My mom got on and said the thing I heard from her the rest of my life: “You were great, Tom.”

was horrible. The guy was too perfect, like James Bond.

set. He knew me pretty well and asked, “What’s wrong?” I said, “The studio’s assigned a script to me, and I hate it.”

humble man. He said, “You don’t have any power, but if they want you for this part, you will never have more power than you do at this moment.”

I took a stand and said, “No.” The studio said, “Who the hell do you think you are? You’ve never even been on the air.” But they got a new writer, and he wrote a great pilot.

I don’t think I ever would have worked again. The studio would have seen to that.

“Risk is the price to pay for opportunity.”

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, but they said we had to get rid of Vietnam as a part of the history for the character. Don and I said no. That was a fight. Eight years later, we got a call from the Smithsonian. I thought they wanted to put my shirt next to Archie Bunker’s chair or something. I gave them a shirt, a Detroit hat, and the ring.

they read the citation: This was the first show that recognised Vietnam veterans in a positive light. I was floored.

the traditional Hawaiian shirt.

to a clothing store and buy a Hawaiian shirt. They didn’t fit. So I got them made by a young lady named Squeak. I found her in Manhattan Beach. She made a whole bunch of shirts for me.

” I said, “That’s a horrible title.” I had been in Hawaii for a while during the actors’ strike at the time, and PI is a derogatory term for a Philippine islander.

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.” I figured I was the last guy on the list. I went because I got to meet Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

.” I guess that went well, because I got another phone call: Steven Spielberg wants you to come back to the office. I go back, and Steven and George are sitting there. They said, “We want you to play Indiana Jones.”

a script. They said, “Here’s a script. Go to my office and read it. Tell us what you think.” I got to about page eight, where the boulder is rolling down the hill after Indiana Jones, and I just said, “Oh, shit. This is really good.”

I had already done a pilot. They said, “We’re surprised you’d tell us that, because most actors would lie.” I said, “Well, I don’t know any other way to do things.” They said, “We’re not worried. We got cards to play at Universal.”

. While I could have done both, CBS said no. They didn’t want a movie star doing a series. “He’ll quit the series.” I never would have done that, but I can’t really blame their thinking.

was a consolation prize. The fact that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas wanted me, and that I could do this kind of stuff—big-time iconic leads—was a great sense of security and confidence.

Maybe one what-if. But most of the time I’m just a good audience.

the number-one movie at the box office on Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas weekend, and New Year’s weekend. Steve, Ted, and I didn’t work for a lot of money in that movie, but we had a real percentage of the gross.

They told me this idea with Courtney Cox, about an older guy, they have an affair. I had to go on blind faith, because there was no script.

during a table reading, Lisa Kudrow said, “Oh, that’s right, you’re gone. I wish you could stay.” I said, “Well, nobody asked me.” The producer heard that. They didn’t think I’d consider it, because they weren’t paying me phenomenal money, but the work was great, and suddenly, I think it was three more. Then we did three more.

in Toronto. The first scene we were ever going to shoot was family dinner. This family who loves each other is going to sit down and have dinner together. I had met Donnie and Lynn, I think, for a day. I met Bridget the night before and Will the day of. We were all kind of nervous.

. I took that cutlet and threw it like a Frisbee across the room, which I have never heard the end of since.

? CBS will tell you it’s ending. I think they’re going to come to their senses. I certainly wish they would. I’m going to do whatever it takes. Tell your friends.

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