2. James Allen’s “As a Man Thinks” I got this book when I was about 30, and it really changed my life. It is a book about meditation and the power of thought and the reality of life and truth. I started meditating and my life got better. My life has improved.
3. A good pair of shoes These feet, they carry us around. We have to be good to them. It’s not a brand. The foot is as individual as the fingerprint. It’s just what feels good, what feels comfortable, what supports your foot well. Right now I’m wearing some nice lace-up wing tip boots. They fit great. And I have shoes made by my friend Ozwald Boateng which are my dress shoes.
4. My Favorite Music I mostly listen to music made in the last century. I am not allergic to music being made these days. I just need a booster. I need someone young to introduce me to the music that is happening right now. Some of my favorite music are Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue”, “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman”, Airto Moreira’s “Identity”, “Band of Gypsys”, Cassandra Wilson, the Beatles, the Stones. Howlin’ Wolf, Duke Ellington, Mahalia Jackson.
5. A great neck pillow and a warm blanket I am a good sleeper. Actors, we have to use our energy like cats – we lie and sleep a lot and then we have to get up and perform. So having a place to lie down with a pillow that hugs the neck, supports the head, aligns the spine, is all good. Cashmere is a great blanket. I even have one in my dressing room at the theater. It’s fantastic.
6. Moroccan Mint Tea There’s a restaurant in Los Angeles that I’ve been eating at since I was a kid, Moun of Tunis. At the end of the meal they serve mint tea and almond cookies. Mint is such a wonderful taste and smell, such a wonderful taste. It just brightens everything up. Makes me happy.
7. A mini trampoline It has little impact, gets your blood flowing. A bit like skipping rope, without skipping rope. You get to defy gravity, seconds at a time. I have a mini bum at both my houses. I do a routine, but there’s nothing rigid about it.
8. Crystals I started taking crystals around 1988. My home in Los Angeles, I have a lot of crystals there. I only have a few here in New York. But I have a medicine bag of it that I go to bed with. It has a Herkimer diamond in it. There’s a piece of moldavite in it, a piece of smoky quartz, a piece of tourmaline. I sleep well every night. And my dreams can be very vivid. Crystals are medicine, man.