Bankrate: Your parents were both actors in Holland. Did you consider yourself part of an acting family there?

Rutger Hauer: No, I didn't really feel that because they weren't really acting much; they did something now and then, but they were teaching most of the time I remember. I remember when I was really young they went to Indonesia. I don't know. I had no concept of it. The house was full a lot with very crazy and artistic people sometimes, but it was an aristocratic sort of environment, intellectual and aristocratic and sort of very artistic.

Bankrate: Did you rebel against that initially?

Rutger Hauer: No, not really. I never felt that I was rebelling against my home. I was very much listening to this voice inside of me that always wanted to see what was around the next corner. I wanted to discover the world, and I guess that was a real drive for me. I guess that's why I'm here now.

Bankrate: Did you have a sense of what you would be doing in the world?

Rutger Hauer: No, not a clue. And nobody seemed to be bothered about it either. Times were quite relaxed and there was time for a kid to figure out what he was going to do and he would be OK. There was no feeling of pressure at all.

Bankrate: You ultimately left Holland to sail the world on a tramp steamer. Did you ever regret answering the call of the sea?

Rutger Hauer: No, I never regretted that, not for a moment. That was my freedom; that's the way I felt from the moment I got out of Holland. On the ocean, I felt I was sort of at home in a way. Apart from the fact that you see a lot of countries and different cultures, when we were at sea I was feeling so good, just standing for hours on deck, feeling the ocean. It was so great. It was such a big adventure, and so interesting.

Bankrate: You returned and joined up with the Nooder Companae, which took Shakespeare out to rural communities. Was that the start of finding your direction?

Rutger Hauer: Yeah. I think I had about four years of professional acting with this small repertory group that would travel to villages and play anywhere we could, as long as there was room enough for an audience and the sets. I think we played a couple of times on pool tables pushed together. It was very makeshift and very creative and very direct as well, the contact with the audience. We would go to schools and play for kids. Sometimes we had a big performance in a big theater, which was quite nice because you would have everything that you need. Most of the time, our lights couldn't all be up or the fuses would go out in the barn, that sort of stuff.

Bankrate: Did you play for the door?

Rutger Hauer: We had a monthly fee for being in the company. We were partially subsidized by the country and the cities gave some. In order for us to be worthy for that sponsorship, we had to perform a certain amount of time each year. It was a very interesting learning experience, but I just didn't really feel that much at home in the theater, with the audiences. When I found the camera, I just knew that it was my medium, and even that was a bit weird because there was hardly any film industry in the country and I don't remember there being a lot of TV. I did start out making a TV series in black and white called "Floris."