I started a theater called Steppenwolf. We've been very supportive of the veterans there.
My mission is to support our service members. They're volunteers, and if they're going to go to a hostile place like Afghanistan, I think we owe it to them to back them up and try to help them get through it.
Yeah, I volunteered to support the troops, and get out there and show them that we care about them.
I started as an actor. I started directing because Steppenwolf needed another strong director.
The University of Southern California has a wonderful social work department, and I was thrilled to find out that they have a whole veterans' initiative program there. They approached me, and I set up a scholarship that would go to a military-oriented person to learn techniques and skills to better help veterans.
Careers, like rockets, don't always take off on time. The trick is to always keep the engine running.