Tim Robbins Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters

Success or failure in life has to do with your ability or inability to deal with challenges, struggles, obstacles. If you see an obstacle as a gift, you can come to a new level of being. [upbeat rock music] "Bull Durham." I ain't pissin' nothin' away.

I got a Porsche already. I got a 911 with a quadraphonic Blaupunkt. Christ, you don't need a quadraphonic Blaupunkt. What you need is a curve ball, huh? In the show, everybody can hit a fast ball.

But how would you know? You've been in the majors? What's great about it, that part, is that he's a talented kid, but he's also, in his brain, he's a superstar.

The image, oddly, I used for him, because when we were talking about clothing and culture, when we were, you know, figuring out what he should be wearing and how he should look, I thought his favorite movie was "Saturday Night Fever," and John Travolta was his hero.

That was his style icon. I went in and read for "Bull Durham," and that went well. But then my agent said, "Ron Shelton, the director, he needs to see you throw a ball, so he's inviting

you out to the lot out in Burbank, and you're gonna have to throw a ball around with Kevin Costner." And I said, "That's no problem." I had my glove and just went out right outside the office and started throwing the ball around.

I could throw it pretty fast. I played third base. Gotta have a rocket arm to get people out. I could throw it pretty fast, and then I had to start working on the mechanics when I got to

"Durham," but on top of all that, I had to also, once I start talking to Susan's character, have this kind of ridiculous, which I kind of modeled on Fernando Valenzuela, the eye roll before you pitch. But I was gettin' the ball up into the 80s

on the clock. Accuracy, not so much, but I had speed, because I've been playing baseball and softball my whole life, and had dreamed baseball. When I was a kid, I would act out entire

Met games in my living room, listening to the radio. One of the reasons I think that movie worked so well was everyone stayed in their lane. You know, Susan had her lane, Kevin had his lane, I had my lane.

I was the fool. I was the... What would they say? The million dollar arm and the five cent head or something like that.

Comedy is rooted in truth. You can't think you're funny. It has to come from some kind of unknowing. You know, you just don't know. You are the fool, and to relish in that, to

not want to look cool all the time. [upbeat rock music] "Shawshank Redemption." [Warden] Any favorite passages? "Watch ye, therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh." Mark 13:35. Always liked that one.

Frank Darabont wrote the best script I've ever read. "Shawshank Redemption" from beginning to end was nearly perfect. When I read it, I was, "I'm in." Said, "This is a first-time director." "Well, I'll tell you what, let's get cinematographer approval." And I was working with Deakins on

"Hudsucker" at the time when I was reading "Shawshank Redemption." I gave it to Roger. He loved it. He said, "I'm in." Roger and I and Morgan, when we met, we all talked about how much we loved

this script that Frank had written. We decided that we were going to fight for that script. If it was the producers that were going to try to cut days or scenes, we were gonna fight.