“Francis [Ford Coppola] asked me to do The Conversation, and when I signed for it, [co-producer Fred] Roos wanted it in the contract that I wouldn’t get paid for the dubbing. I said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to mow my lawn then.’ I made them put in a clause where he had to mow my yard. Then I caught a little cold during rehearsals with Gene Hackman, and Roos said to Coppola, ‘Let’s get another actor.’ They cast Allen Garfield in the part.”

– “Cracked Actor,” Film Comment Jan/Feb 2004, interview conducted in 1992 by Grover Lewis