There are so many examples of such talented people who have not come from the film background like Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma and then there are actors like Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt who have come from film families and done so well. So, it all comes down to the audience.
I look up to actors. I look up to Robert DeNiro, I look up to Johnny Depp, I look up to Al Pacino, I look up to run-of-the-mill really good actors. I love watching movies, and I love watching other actors and learning from them.
Amitabh Bachchan and SRK are great actors, but I like the way Suniel Shetty has handled his work. He's doing so many things at one time. He's a sincere actor, he has his own production company, other businesses and he's even the brand ambassador for hockey.
My look is very different in 'Main Hoon Na.' I don't look like the same Suniel Shetty.
I feel I disappoint people when I am not 'Samantha.' They seem surprised when I don't have the same voice and the same mannerisms. They were booking 'Samantha,' and I would show up.
Things that make me laugh range from a wonderful stand-up like Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K. and Chris Rock to my son Gabe, who does great improv work. I also look backwards to the great comedic actors like Jackie Gleason, Paul Lynde and Phil Silvers.
I'll never forget the dance number that I shot with Anushka. The choreography involved a lot of intricate dance moves. I'm at least 7 inches shorter than Anushka, so I had to wear the highest heels I've ever worn in my life; throughout the song, I even injured my knee a couple of times.
When kids look up to great scientists the way they do to great musicians and actors, civilization will jump to the next level
There is a strange pecking order among actors. Theatre actors look down on film actors, who look down on TV actors. Thank God for reality shows, or we wouldn't have anybody to look down on.
It's always great for a young guy to have those examples, even though you may not follow 'em right away, it's great to have those guys in the locker room that you could look up to and see the right way to go about your business.
I mean, you know, actors lives - you're forgotten. Look at Barrymore, and look at all the great actors. They're forgotten after awhile.
People copy examples and then they wonder what is the trouble. They look at examples and without theory they learn nothing.
In India, big stars like Akshay Kumar or Salman Khan do comedy and serious films and we call them great actors. But when it comes to actors of my stature, people rush to typecast me as a comedian without giving a look to all my work.
I always get a little bit pissed off when stand-up comedy is not recognised as being as good a craft as being an actor. We give Oscars to people and it's like, 'Aw, this person is the greatest person on earth', but being an actor is pretty easy in comparison to stand-up comedy. It's no surprise that several stand-up comics have gone on to become great actors. I don't know any great actors that have gone on to become great stand-up comics.
Raj Kundra kept telling me that Shilpa Shetty liked my videos and photos. This gave me more motivation to work on such videos. When you are motivated by people like Shilpa Shetty, you don't understand what's right and wrong. When I was praised for making such videos, it gave me a push to do more.
Listen, I like great actors. You can be a movie star without being a great actor - this has been proved several times - and I like my casts to have great actors. Acting is more important to me than being a star.