Do you see young actors that have potential like Cody?

Sure, well, when we were making the movie, there was a bit of that. You could transpose surfing for acting in a sense that Shia and I are both actors and did it since we were kids. We would play together. There’s a lot of play in acting, like when you were a kid and you used to pretend and that sort of thing. Not that it doesn’t have to be serious. You can play very serious. They even call it-- playing the piano, whether you’re playing Bach or whatever, it’s very serious music but there’s an element of play to it. That goes for surfing and goes for acting so yeah, certainly I think playing with Shia there was a lot of that same kind of sense. Not so much teaching somebody because he’s a wonderful improviser and there’s a great willingness that he has to play, to maybe be the fool or not. So we got to surf together, we got to play together.

Talk about Euke vs. the Ook?

Now what is that? Is that in the movie? Do I say that in the movie?

The song plays over the credits.

Oh, see, I heard that they were putting that song in but I hadn’t heard it yet.

It is great.

Oh, it works? Great. That’s funny. When I was recording it, one of my friends says, “You know, it’s not a Yuke-elele, it’s an ook-elele.” So I went off, they had the mic on and recorded it. I didn’t know they were going to do that.

But you play?

I played it. That’s me playing and that song was written by perhaps my oldest friend, a guy named John Goodwin. We go back to the fourth grade together, we’ve been making music and art and playing together all these years. Whenever I make a movie, he would say, “So, what’s your movie about? I’ll write a song.” I say yeah, okay, and I’ll throw it. I remember he was over one day and I was working on it, I was telling him about the movie. I told him what the movie’s about, he came back an hour later and said, “Here, what do you think?” and played that song. And he also has a song in, I don't know if any of you saw Tideland. You did see Tideland? One of the few. But that first song in Tideland, Van Gogh in Hollywood, that’s also written by John. He’s very good. He’s got a song in quite a few of my movies actually.

Regarding your other hobby, could you take pictures for an animated movie?

No, I think that part of my life may be over. Not over, I shouldn’t say that, but I was into it in such a groove. I don't know how many movies I did that on, and probably some of you guys got those books. Maybe I might have passed them out. Then I put a compilation of all those books together in a big coffee table book and that was kind of I felt like I hatched my egg. Now I’ve got to fill up again or something, I don't know. I haven’t been taking pictures as much.

This movie is about joy in your craft. How have you maintained it in acting?

Yeah, well, different things come to mind when you say that. My mom would often say, “Remember, don’t take it too seriously.” I say, “Oh yeah, thanks.” My wife, whenever I’d go off to work and I’d be kind of anxious, she’ll say, “Remember, have fun.” Oh, I forgot, thanks for the reminder. Because sometimes we do forget. We take it all too seriously and there’s a lot of joy to be had wherever you are. Tap in and kind of get out of your way and there it is.

So you could relate to that part of your character?

Sure, yeah, part of this story is very good I think.

Did you have a similar relationship with Beau?

Me being Cody, Beau being Big Z? Not really, no. Beau was eight years older than I am and he was almost like- - and my dad was working a lot in those days so it was kind of like a surrogate father. He taught me all the sports. He was always small for his age, I was always big for my age but he was an excellent athlete and he was scouted by the Dodgers. He played on the UCLA basketball team so he would kind of, since I was bigger for my age, he would teach me all the sports stuff and kind of vicariously have me go out. I enjoyed it for a while. It was fun to be close with him but I didn’t get into the competitive side of it. He has a wonderful way, my father had this too, of getting great joy out of competition. Maybe it’s just that I’m so competitive that I don’t like to even get in there. I don’t like to loose. Maybe that’s it, I don't know. But Beau and my dad would love to compete at like tennis and all that stuff.

It’s like that Seinfeld he did.

Oh God, yeah. He just loved that and it was good. But he had a lot of joy. He didn’t do it with sour grapes or anything like that. They both loved sports very much. It was a different relationship.

Are you not tempted to take photos on Iron Man? It’s so visual.

Sort of but not really because I’m kind of a supporting player in it so I’m missing a lot of the action, the day to day work of the thing. And also, a lot of the special effects are going to happen in post so there’s not really too much there. It’s kind of frustrating with this Wide Lux camera, it shoots film. If there’s no focus, the light in the places where you film is usually so low, to get a good shot it’s kind of tough. I kind of got out of the groove of it for some reason.

Who are you playing and why this look?

I’m playing Obadiah Stane who in the movie version is Tony Stark, that’s Robert Downey’s character, Iron Man, sort of his mentor. I run his company, Stark Enterprises.

The beard is for the beginning?

No. The beard is just there, you know.

Anything coming up after Iron Man?

Yeah, after Iron Man, I just signed on, I don't know if it’s official yet but I believe it is. A movie called, I hope I get this title right, don’t tell me, don’t tell me. It’s called How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

With Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst.

There you go, that’s right.

What do you play?

I play the chief editor of a magazine that Simon is working for.

Vanity Fair.

Well, kind of. I think it’s loosely based on that. It’s based on a book by the same title I think. I can’t think of the guy’s name who wrote the book. Toby something, yeah.

Have you seen Shaun or Hot Fuzz?

I’ve seen both of those and I’m a fan of Simon Pegg. I think he’s great. I like Shaun of the Dead a lot. I think it’s wonderful.

Are you still doing music just for fun?

I play all the time. I played not too long ago. I think I’ve got another album in me. I’m going to get my buddies together collecting songs. My friend John Goodwin, he’s got a lot of music. If you go on my website by the way and you go to the music page, you can hear a lot of John’s music. You can stream his album that’s available on iTunes and it’s called Up to Here. John Goodwin, not Goodman, but Goodwin.

Will you surf while you’re here?

No, I’m not. I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ve got to go back to work but I had an interview up there with Kelly Slater. We just met. It’d be great to go out there and surf with him.

Longboard or shortboard?

I’m a longboard guy. How about you? You’re a surfer. You’re longboard. I don't understand how they do the shortboard thing at all. I don’t get it.

Is there any other hobby you want to do?

I do a lot of ceramics. My website’s kind of fun for me. I get to do drawings on that. It’s kind of fun. A lot of family time these days. My oldest daughter Isabelle is getting married so we’re kind of all gearing up for that.

Do your kids have any interest in acting?

You know, I don't know. Unlike my father, I didn’t make it as available to them as he did with us. And I’m kind of, not that my dad was a stage parent or anything but he just enjoyed it so much and he wanted to turn his kids on to it. And he was right. I’ve enjoyed it myself and have had a wonderful life because of it. But I went through a period where it was awkward for me. Whenever you’re the child of a famous person, you get judged in odd ways because of that. Then I remember when I first started my acting, I thought, “Oh, I just got this job because of who my father is,” a lot of nepotism stuff. I’m a product of nepotism I’ve got to say. I don't think I would have gotten into it if my father wasn’t so enthusiastic. Anyway I chose to not do that with my kids and I’m kind of regretting that a little bit now because now they’re in their ‘20s and they’re at that crossroads where they’re starting to ask themselves, “Well, what am I going to do?” And I’d say, “Do you ever think about acting? You’ve got it in your blood, you’ve got three generations of it and I’ll help you work on the stuff.” They say, “Eh, I don't think so.” So I don't know. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of them kind of stumble into it someway.

Are you going to be an easygoing father in law?

I’ll be easygoing father in law. The guy that she’s marrying, Brandon Dash, is a wonderful guy. They’ve known each other for many, many years and toured Europe together. I figure if they can survive Europe…

We miss those photo books.

Thank you, I’m glad you like them. Maybe I’ll get back into it.