From the June, 1992 issue of Details, pages 90-91:

In your new movie Rubin and Ed, your character, Rubin, resembles Prince Valiant on peyote. Where did he come from?

I originally created the character for an audition for the movie Real Genius. One day Trent [Harris, writer/director] was waiting for me in my apartment building's lobby. I stepped off the elevator with long hair, striped bell-bottoms, and platform shoes. First he thought I was just some weirdo, and then I started to laugh and he recognized me. I said, "Wouldn't this be a good person to make a movie about?" And Trent said "No, it's a terrible idea." Then he wrote the script.

You've gone from being a charismatic gang leader in River's Edge to playing more geeky characters in your recent movies. Are you happy about this?

Definitely. I wouldn't call Andy Warhol -who I play in The Doors - a geek. Neither is my character in Wild at Heart. A geek by definition is somebody who eats live animals. I've never eaten live animals.

But in Rubin and Ed you do drink the sweat from your Dr. Scholl's insoles as well as the water your dead cat has been soaking in.

True, but I didn't write the script. I'd wanted to work with Trent because we'd done a film together called The Orkly Kid, which is my favorite performance. I play a guy who dresses up as Olivia Newton - John when he's by himself.

What happened with your lawsuit against Universal? Didn't they hire someone else for your role in the Back to the Future sequels?

Well, we couldn't come to an agreement on scheduling. I was doing a John Boorman film, so they hired another actor. They used prosthetics to make him look like me, had him impersonate my voice, and spliced his performance with original clips of mine. So I sued them. All I'm allowed to say now is that we've agreed to a mutually satisfactory settlement.

Tell me about your book Rat Catching.

Actually, I've made twenty-one books. Rat Catching is the sixth. It came about when I was in a bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard and found a binding with a picture of a rat on the cover called Rat Catching. I took images from other books, like Fur, Keeping Livestock Healthy, and Diseases of Cattle , and re-worked them with edited text. Rat Catching is my save-the-whales book.

Did you discuss dead animals with David Lynch during the filming of Wild at Heart ?

I did once, but it wasn't during Wild at Heart. It was the first time I ever met him, for a film he never did called One Saliva Bubble. He told me that Rat Catching reminded him of how he had once taken a dead mouse and put it in resin. Just as the resin was hardening, pressure caused the mouse's mouth to open and out floated a small maggot, which froze. So he had this wonderful paperweight.

Why did you include a rap song about masturbation on your record album?

Well, at first I did the record as a lark. Then I decided if I was going to do it, I should take it seriously. It ended up being called The Big Problem Does Not = The Solution: The Solution = Let It Be. People have to figure out what the big problem is, then call my number, which is printed on the back of the album.

Has anyone figured it out yet?

I was surprised that so many people did.

Does the name of your publishing company, Volcanic Eruptions, tie into the album's theme?

I guess Freud might say so.

Do you see a psychiatrist?

Yes, twice a week. If you lie on the couch, you're supposed to go three times a week, but it's so expensive. He's expensive, but he's good.

Tell me a recent dream.

I dreamed the other night that Sammy Davis Jr. was hugging me.

You're driving through the desert and you spot William S. Burroughs, Bud Cort, and Andy Warhol hitchhiking, but you only have room for one. Who do you pick up?

I'd be awfully suspicious of any of those three. And I don't pick up hitchhikers.

Are you afraid of anything?

There's one insect I really don't like: the potato bug. It gets real big. It's got a yellow head with a striped body. I'm not horrified by insects in general, I just don't like that particular bug.

If you had to wake up as a woman, who would you want to be?

I would find it horrifying. Not because of gender, but just to be another person. I'd hate to wake up as Abraham Lincoln.

What's your favorite possession?

For sentimental reasons, I like my case of eyes. It's an optometrist's wax replication of twelve eye disorders. It's a museum-quality antique. I got it in London when I was twenty, and it was the most expensive thing I'd ever bought. I had it sitting near a window, and when I came home, it had melted. I was horrified. Then I realized it put a nice surreal twist on it.

What was your first professional acting gig?

It was The Sound of Music, with Florence Henderson when she still looked like Mrs. Brady. I played one of the kids.

Do you remember your first kiss?

It may sound like I'm lying, but it's the truth. I was seventeen, a late starter in the sexual arena. I was eating a sundae in Ships and three girls got up to leave, and one said, "You look really sexy sitting there. Will you give me a kiss?" I said, "O.K.," and kissed her. And then one of the other two said "Well, give me a kiss." And then the first girl started French-kissing. Then I kissed the second girl. They invited me out to their car. But I got nervous and said I had to eat my sundae.

You've worked with Laura Dern, Uma Thurman, Ione Skye, and Meg Ryan. Who do you think is the sexiest?

I think that's a terrible question. I can't answer that.

What qualities do you look for in a woman?

Everything.

What's everything for you?

Everything is everything. As Charles Manson said, "Always is always forever. One is one is one." And I agree with him.