CITAZIONE
First I’d like to say thank you to the fans.
When I first arrived here this morning there was a guy asleep on Howard Hawks. There was a guy asleep on Tom Mix - so it did come to my mind that perhaps in future years this might be an appropriate place for me to lay my sleeping bag.
Those of you who know me well who are here, and there are a lot of you – certainly the Bombers, certainly Richard, Kim, Pam, John, Peter, Barry, Lou – welcome back to the Bombers, Lou - they know that I’m squirming right now in the presence of this solo spotlight. It’s not what I do well, and it’s not really something I believe in. I’m a team guy. I believe no-one does it alone. And because of that, I will do my best here and I’ll remember what my wife said, which is to get over it, and move on…
I’d like to thank my personal team. That would be Barry, that would be Karen, that’d be Sam, that would be Elisa. I thank you for your support, your belief, your passion, and for many, many times talking me out of some really stupid things that I wanted to do.
Ten years ago, I read a script called ‘NCIS’. That first year it was called ‘Navy NCIS’, which is really ‘Navy Naval CIS’, which is really ‘Naval Navy Criminal Investigative Service’. Whatever. 217 shows later, we’re still here and we’re still doing good work.
I don’t know if that show gets out of the first month of production without people at the controls like Charles Johnson, Mark Horowitz, and Mark Schiltz. Hugely talented professionals who somehow balance the insanity of that beginning start, work together with a fabulous crew, it’s the best I’ve ever worked with - add to that, Gary Glasberg our showrunner who’s been the sole guy there for the last four years. Working there every day, working with a widely diverse and talented writers’ room, still pushing good stories, still getting people excited… I’m proud of that, and I’m proud of the people who come to this show, and work hard every day to make it the best it can be. There’s nothing better than this cast, that I get the chance to toe a mark with every day…
Weatherly – you’re something special, man. Cotes – you made us better when you arrived here. P – there is no-one like you. Anywhere. Sean – where are you, Sean? We got better when you arrived too. Where’s the Rocky? Rockman! Yeah – you too. We got better when you got here. That’s not taking anything away from anyone who was here before. Brian Dietzen – welcome to the main titles, you won them [? hard to hear - a siren went!]. And David McCallum – who sets the bar so high on this show, for every other actor who comes in, who at this point I think thinks he is a medical examiner. But he just does small surgeries late Thursday nights somewhere in the Valley – we’re not sure.
I love this crew. I love. This. Crew. Because they’re all so individually talented. No, I mean that – they’re asked to do the job they know how to do without having to worry about looking over their shoulder and most of us have been together for a long time, and I think this entire cast is personally proud that for the last ten years, come – sometimes, Les, pretty early in the year, we know that we’re coming back to work and that means, especially to me, that these crew members can take that family vacation, or maybe go put a down-payment on that Bass boat they were looking to buy and know that in July they’re coming back to a show they enjoy working on.
If I gain strength from any one or any thing, it’s my family. Pammy. Sean – where are ya? Right next to you, there you are, bud – back at you – son Ty who’s away in school – without you guys, this all means very little…
I’m from Burbank – right over the hill. My Dad’s radio show and office was a block from here. My star is in front of an Irish pub and My Dad’s Mom’s name was Quinn, so we’re good there too.
I’m extremely thankful. I don’t take any of this easily. I would love to thank Les for taking the time to do something he never does. Nina you as well. David you as well. I’m really fortunate to get up every morning and go do a job I love going to. I like being an actor. This is a long way from where I started. If this [points to star] means anything to me, it represents longevity. But when I look at that, I see many more names on that than my own. And that’s the way I feel about this business, that’s the way I feel about this honour, it’s pretty much the way I feel about life. Thank you very much.
