I wanted to be a teacher.

I wanted to be a teacher but I was a lousy student one of the slowest readers. It was a tremendous struggle. But I'm lucky I had some teachers who saw something in me.

We had maybe the greatest success of any company that I know of in Paris and after two or three years I wanted to do this same number that we did for PBS so we did it and Paris had always considered us their darlings.

I feel like a hostage to fortune. Not that I am complaining. I wanted to play the role. But in truth I didn't think the show would be such a success. OK I thought it would fail. Not because it was bad. I was confident it was good but plenty of good things just sort of wither on the vine.

I was very clear that I wanted to keep 'Thor' out of the rest of the Marvel universe for no less than the first six issues. And the success of the book I think speaks well to that decision.

I wanted to highlight that whole dreadful process in book publishing that 'nothing succeeds like success.'

While I was doing stand-up I thought I knew for sure that success meant getting everyone to like me. So I became whoever I thought people wanted me to be. I'd say yes when I wanted to say no and I even wore a few dresses.

Then when I went to Iraq and saw the strength and character the men and women in our military service exhibit every day and their belief in what they're doing I knew I wanted to get that on film and share it with everyone. They are my inspiration.

I also wanted to express the strength of cinema to hide reality while being entertaining. Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness.

In sports people reach their peak very early. You have to move on. I don't know if I will ever surpass what I did at the Olympics but I'm still doing the work I always wanted to do.