My part had three lines. I said, `You look wonderful, sir,` three times. All my friends said, `Do not take that role - and do not understudy. You`ll regret it the rest of your life.` I did both of those things, and I`ve never regretted it once.

Those guys, Scott and Preston, had professionalism, with a capital P. It`s a bygone era. I`m getting emotional talking about them.

And I`d watch George C. Scott from backstage. He was one of my mentors.

I loved the gentlemanly way they treated each other. It was unlike anything I was used to. I started helping them strike the set and, at 11, began taking acting classes privately.

The Emmy should be an ensemble award, too. I kept howling at everyone else`s performances.

I remember going to Bob Preston`s dressing room because I was losing a laugh - as you do in a long run. He said, `Give me the script. That`s where you`re going off the road.` That`s comedy. It`s never the line itself; it`s in the foundation.

They were working on Home of the Brave - deconstructing it, putting it together. I kept coming every day to watch. It seemed beautiful.

Gordon and I run our scene every night prior to the performance, just to get the cadences. I don`t think Gordon would mind my telling you that.

This whole thing about winning and losing is muddy waters. But I can remember, as a young actor, just walking around this city and not being able to get arrested.

I love this company. I don`t know how it was selected. It`s a bunch of machers. They mean business.

When I got this role, my daughter Molly said, `Dad, you`ve come full circle.

As my manager says, `These are wonderful problems.`

My education was doing good plays and also stinkers. When you do a stinker, you learn how to act. I like having to audition. It`s nice to do rehearsals. But it`s with an audience that you get to love it!

I came to New York late; I was already past 30.