I've hunted down a delightfully characteristic video clip of Gary talking.  He's describing his character, Fighting Joe Wheeler, from the 1997 made-for-TV movie Rough Riders.  I think this clip conveys Gary's strangeness in a way that a printed quotation never could. (The clip is a quick time movie that you may have to download to watch.)

  

Okay, let's begin.  We'll start with what is probably my favorite Gary Busey interview, which I am excerpting without permission from a website that reprinted it without permission from Christian Walk, date unknown.  My commentary will appear to the right of the interview itself.    Gary on Becoming an Actor MEEUWSEN: You were raised in a Christian home, and then decided, when you grew up, you wanted to go to Hollywood. What motivated you? I have been informed that this is the lady from The 700 Club.  Whatever, her name is funny. Mr. BUSEY: …when I was in the first grade, I saw a movie called "Samson and Delilah," the Cecil B. DeMille film, and when it was over, I said to my mother, "Where do all the people go?" And she said, "They go out, and another audience comes in to see the picture show." And I said, "No, not those people, the people up there." She said, "You mean the people in the picture show?" And I said, "Yes." She said, "Well, they go off and they do another picture show, and so we'll come and see it." And I said, "That's what I want to do." And she said, "You want to be in the picture show?" And I said, "No, I want to tell stories with light." This is great. You can tell that Gary is getting really into his mediocre story. His eyes must have been emanating that creepy, crazy intensity as he wove this tail of yore. See how he throws you the curve-ball when his mom thinks he was talking about the movie-goers and not the stars?  A master story-teller, he is. MEEUWSEN: Wow. Yeah. Mr. BUSEY: And light stands for L-I-G-H-T, which stands for Living In God's Heavenly Thoughts. What?!! What happened? Oh yeah, he's insane.   Gary on Life Before Christ Mr. BUSEY: ...the experiences that God gave me to go through...which were cocaine, which were extravagant living in the fast, fast, fast, fast, fast lane, see? I love reading this one.  He actually repeated the word 'fast' five times before following it with an earnest "see?"   Gary on Philosophy and the Problem of Evil Mr. BUSEY: ... your shadow, the dark side. C.G. Hume writes about it, in terms of the fact that every one of us has a dark side. And my dark side, my shadow, my lower companion is now in the back room blowing up balloons for kids' parties. No comment.

People Magazine, 1990

 Okay, this one's really weird.  About his recovery from a motorcycle accident: "One night...at [the hospital], I was sitting in bed...and saw the Grim Reaper standing in the corner. He was seven feet tall, with a brown robe. He pointed to me and said, 'Relax, it's not your time to go. You have been given gifts. These gifts are ready to be received by mankind. So get on your feet and improve.' Then he laughed, spun his scythe and left. I wasn't asleep and I hadn't been for days. Whether this was a premonition or an angel in disguise, I don't know. But it was a positive reinforcement to stay on the road to recovery, which I've done."

I like how the Reaper laughs and spins his scythe before he leaves.  Both of those things would really freak me out if I saw them.

Metal Rules! Magazine, Issue #10

This interview offers by far the most revealing journey into the depths of Gary Busey's insanity.  It is not for the faint of heart.  If you just can't get enough of wacky Gary Busey quotations, click here to check out some highlights from the interview.  If, on the other hand, you're like me and you're not quite sure whether you want to see any more because Gary is turning out to be such an easy target, and you feel kind of ashamed to be laughing at him, you can always click here to check out some highlights from the interview.

Also:

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