Best Of Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... 2009

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  Jane Goodall

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Here are highlights from a year that brought some of the best, brightest, controversial and creative to our Magazine pages, giving us some insight into the personalities of the celebrities, athletes, billionaires, politicians and scientists behind the headlines. From Joan Rivers to Jane Goodall the variety of interviews offers a cross-section of what was news in 2009. (Complete list of Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... interviews.)

Question: Was there a time in your life when you felt the most vulnerable?

Answer: Well, it's hard. I've lived 70 years, so I have felt vulnerable a lot of times. But I guess when I was 4 years old and went off to boarding school I felt vulnerable. I wanted to be with my mommy and daddy.( Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Ted Turner)

Question: The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to have a special relationship [with their team] compared to other NFL teams.

Answer: I think that's true. The patriarch, Art Rooney, was a special man. He was beloved, and he was a straight shooter. I think that Dan Rooney has run the team in the same way. He is one of the most respected people in the National Football League. They've had continuity from [Chuck] Noll to [Bill] Cowher and now [Mike] Tomlin. All of them have been good. None of them have been fly-by-night. You know the fan support, the whole way this franchise has been run, is close to a model. Dan Rooney gets a lot of credit for being at the forefront of trying to expand minority hiring with the Rooney rule. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Bob Costas)

Question: Do you think President Obama will be tested the way Vice President Joe Biden suggested during the campaign?

Answer: I think that was the most honest thing Joe Biden said during the whole campaign. I fear he is going to be tested. I have no idea what the test is going to be like. I fear for that moment. I pray for this president every single day. Please, dear God, guide him. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Glenn Beck)

Question: Did you think the election of a black president would happen in your lifetime?

Answer: I never dreamed it was possible. I never dreamed and I tell you when I went to vote, I took my family with me. I took photographs of them because I am the sole surviving member of my family. I took the photographs of my family in my pocket, and when I got there I took them out and I said, "This is for all of us." I did the same thing at the inauguration. I took them with me. I could not be there by myself [with emotion]. I wanted to be able to share it with my family, and that's how I did it. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Cicely Tyson)

Question: I know you are saying it doesn't matter what other people think, but I thought you were very attractive.

Answer: Nobody else did. No man ever called me beautiful. Whatever it was, I didn't think I was, and it made me feel bad. It still does. No one is going to go under the knife, as we say, unless you really want to look better. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Joan Rivers)

Question: Do you think animals have a spirit?

Answer: I think so. I sort of got the feeling that there is a little spark of this great spiritual power whatever he/she is in all living things. We question why are we here, what does it mean? We call that little spark a soul, so if we have a soul, then I think chimpanzees and dogs and so forth have souls, too. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Jane Goodall)

Question: You've taken grief for breaking character with laughter during your "SNL" years.

Answer: [Laughing.] I am an easy laugh, I really am. I think it all kind of came from the "Best of Will Ferrell" DVD. That's when it all started, when Will left. It just so happens that in the "Best of Will Ferrell," in five of the sketches I'm laughing. He is a brilliantly funny guy. So he would do something, but then he'd switch it up on air. He would surprise me with stuff. Like in "Cow Bell," we would do it in dress rehearsal, but then on air he'd come out in a shorter shirt and every time he'd lift his arms up his gut would come out of his shirt. ... The crowd was just roaring. If you were there, it was vibrating from how much people were laughing. ... I just couldn't control it. I don't regret it. If you want, you can show the dress rehearsal where I'm not laughing, but it's probably not as funny. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Jimmy Fallon)

Question: You and Will started a school that is not a Scientology school, correct?

Answer: Absolutely. It is absolutely not. It is completely and utterly secular. It is a difficult thing for anybody to understand because nobody knows the other side of it. If you don't know what Scientology is then you don't know what you're comparing it to. It's not Scientology whatsoever. We have no interest in having a Scientology school.( Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Jada Pinkett Smith)

Question: You have celebrity friends and a celebrity wife, Sandra Bullock, and you are a celebrity in your own right. Is that comfortable for you?

Answer: Like the celebrity world? I work in Long Beach at my shop every day. I have the same friends I've had for 20 years, and the only people I hang out with every day are other welders and workers. You know everybody thinks because my wife is a celebrity that automatically makes me super fancy, but that's not the case.(Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Jesse James)

Question: Have you ever used your acting skills in your private life, knowing that you can, to perhaps get out of trouble when you were younger?

Answer: That's probably the best question I may have heard in my entire life, and I'll tell you why. Because first of all, it's incredibly insightful for you to have asked that question, and the answer is unequivocally, no. I haven't even thought of doing that. I just haven't been that guy. I don't even think in those terms. I think other people might think that you do. That's where you might be misunderstood. I remember talking to this woman, and she was like, "I don't know if I can trust you. You're an actor." It just makes me laugh. My reference for actors is my parents, who were together till the moment my father passed away. I am from a hardworking Midwestern family of actors. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Jeremy Piven)

Question: Being a celebrity, is it going to be hard to give up the spotlight you've been in so long when the time comes?

Answer: I think the trick is to make celebrity money and lead a normal life. Then you will have whatever you want. I enjoy observing show business and dabbling in it. I don't necessarily live it. I have the same friends I had in high school. When I go home I am the big shot in my own family. You are making crazy money compared to normal people, and you try to live a normal life. You always have something in the bank. You can be there to help people when they need you, and it's not a big burden on you. If you live in Hollywood, where you have to have the big mansion, and you have to do this and you have to do that, and "Oh, everybody's doing coke, and oh, this is your third wife" and all that nonsense, it gets a little crazy. Well, you've done a great job. Same wife, same life. Same car! I'm still driving the same car we dated in, so there you go. My '55 Buick. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Jay Leno)

Question: Have you ever tried swimming in one of those new suits that have been banned from the Olympics?

Answer: No, just because I've always worn the suits that I've worn. Speedo is the company that I am going to wear for the rest of my career. That's the only suit I'm ever gonna have on. I've never touched it. Never put one on. Never did anything [laughing]. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Michael Phelps)

Question: You've learned to deal with inflated egos. How do you do that, and how do you keep yours in check?

Answer: Some people argue that I don't have my ego under perfect control. I have studied a lot of history, so when you study history you learn something about the fragility of human desires. When you think about yourself you keep that in mind. On the other hand, when you represent your country, you have to represent its strengths and its purposes. So in the nature of things that leads you to certain assertiveness. In the final analysis, I have found to be a good diplomat you need a number of qualities. One is patience. Second, you need to understand where you can rationally go. [Finally, you need] A realistic assessment of your own possibilities and a realistic assessment of what the other side is attempting to do and what they can reasonably accept. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Henry Kissinger)

Question: What is the biggest misconception Americans have of Pakistan?

Answer: That we are all radicals and fundamentalists roaming around the country, bearded people, extremists. The vast majority is moderate. There is a perception maybe that the education level is very low, and we are all Madrasah-educated people. It's very wrong. Madrasahs only account for maybe 3 or 4 percent of the students of Pakistan. I have studied in St. Patrick School, which is a Catholic missionary school, and Forman Christian College, which is a Protestant college. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Pervez Musharraf)

Question: In your book you talk about being in jail.

Answer: Eight days. It changed my perspective in the fact that I'll never go back. I'll tell you that much. I was going through a period in my life where I was very irresponsible. I used to be a Jehovah Witness, and their teaching was that Armageddon was going to come soon and figured, well if it's going to come soon, then I don't have to pay my bills. I don't have to pay parking tickets. I hadn't paid a lot of parking tickets, and they became warrants for my arrest, so that's why I went to jail. It was irresponsible choices on my part. It did have a silver lining. I'm the kind of person since I went to jail [that] I don't like bills to come more than once. I am on time with my credit card bills, my car payment, my mortgage. I'm not late. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast with ... Sherri Shepherd)

Question: But you know you are in a unique situation with Oprah. There are people who define themselves through their spouse, their children's accomplishments. How do you avoid that?

Answer: Lose your ego. You have to realize everybody is equal because everybody has 24 hours. The question becomes what will you do with your 24 hours? Just because you are in the media, just because you are on TV, just because you are famous, just because you are in a particular field that may be more high profile doesn't mean you are more significant than anybody else. It is just how you define yourself and how you define your work. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Stedman Graham)

Question: So when you are singing certain lyrics do particular people come to mind, or times in your life? Or are you just in the moment?

Answer: Sometimes I have a story going on in my head, yeah. You know especially if it's a more emotional kind of vulnerable song. I really try to - it's kind of a form of acting in a way - I try to recall the emotion, like sense memory. I try to put myself back in that place, or a place that recalls a similar feeling. By me going there, hopefully, it can transport other people there. The songs I wrote on the album are all derived from personal experiences and personal philosophy. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast with ... Adam Lambert)

Question: Do you hope someone else will pick up the ball then?

Answer: I just hope people pay attention. I hope the lemmings stop being lemmings for a moment. Remember this, I believe this with all my heart and soul, that dissension is the greatest form of patriotism. If you don't hold your elected officials' feet to the fire you will get bad government. It has been proven time and time again. You can't go with the attitude go along to get along. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast with ... Jesse Ventura)

Question: How do you measure success?

Answer: Having grown a little bit older and maybe a little bit wiser, I think success is a 50/50 proposition. It is half business and half your private life. If you are really successful in business but have a bad marriage and the kids are not doing well you know, you are not a happy person. So I think it is really to balance business and pleasure or business and family. (Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast with ... Wolfgang Puck)