March 20, 2000
Web posted at: 5:00 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Richard Farnsworth (Alvin Straight) has been in movies since 1937, when he answered a casting call for 500 Mongolian horsemen and made his film debut as a stunt rider in "The Adventures of Marco Polo." He has enjoyed years on the rodeo circuit and as a stuntman, driving chariots in "The Ten Commandments" and wielding a sword for Kirk Douglas in "Spartacus."

Farnsworth had his first speaking role in "The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox." He was nominated for an Academy Award for his first major film role in 1977, in Alan J. Pakula's "Comes A Horseman" with Jane Fonda. For his portrayal of the legendary gentleman bandit, Bill Miner, in "The Grey Fox," Farnsworth won Canada's 1983 equivalent to the Oscar. More recently, the actor appeared in "The Natural," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Anne of Green Gables" and "Misery."

Farnsworth joined the Entertainment chat via telephone from New Mexico. CNN.com provided a typist for Mr. Farnsworth.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Richard Farnsworth, and welcome.

Richard Farnsworth: Hello!

Chat Moderator: How did you get the opportunity to do this film?

Richard Farnsworth: Well, David Lynch had seen something I'd done a few years ago and he thought I was right for the character. He called my agent and we got together and decided I should do it. So I was hired and I went to Iowa and did the picture.

Question from Valerie: Mr. Farnsworth, did you like the character you played? What did you think of him as a person?

Richard Farnsworth: Well, I thought quite a bit of him as a person. I admired his grit and determination to take that journey on a little mower. The more I got into it, the more I saw he had a really rough time with it. I wouldn't have done it, myself. After a day or two, I probably would have quit. But he made up his mind to go through with it and I admired that quality very much.

Question from Sunny1: Richard, tell us your reaction when you heard your name announced as a nominee.

Richard Farnsworth: Well, I was very elated; naturally, I would be. I'm waiting now to see what happens!

Chat Moderator: Did you expect to be nominated?

Richard Farnsworth: No, I knew we had a quite a different kind of film but I didn't expect that I would get a nomination, although I thought the film might.

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Chat Moderator: Had you heard of the story before making the movie?

Richard Farnsworth: Yes, I had seen several articles in the paper when he did it in 1994, and I didn't think too much of it. It was just in the back of my mind. When they called me to look at the script, I remembered it exactly. This time it was quite a bit different, of course, because I realized that I would portray him. I was very glad that I got the chance to do it.

Question from Sunny1: You've worked with so many great actors. Do you have a personal favorite?

Richard Farnsworth: I'd have to say Joel McCray was my favorite. Of course, I worked with John Wayne and Henry Fonda but I'd have to say Joel McCray.

Question from Sockey: This is quite a different film. Do you think these types of stories should be told more often, being that it is family-oriented?

Richard Farnsworth: Yes, I'm really into family-oriented films and I think this might set a trend for more of them. I also think it might start a new career for a lot of elder men. There's a lot of talented men in Hollywood in their 70's and 80's. This just might make an opening for them again. They can still get the job done.

Question from Chat_Worm: Any idea why the picture hasn't been widely released?

Richard Farnsworth: I really don't know. Everybody that I've talked to has seen it and some have had trouble finding it. Maybe that's a Disney policy, to start out slow with it. I know that the Academy members saw it, which is the main thing as far as I'm concerned. I think it will be around for some time. It's the kind of film that word-of-mouth keeps going. I haven't had one person who's seen it that didn't like it and that's quite unusual.

Question from Aurora: Mr. Farnsworth, I've been a huge fan of yours since "Comes A Horseman." You can say more with your eyes/face than other actors can with a script full of dialogue. Did you meet any of Alvin Straight's relatives before the movie was filmed?

Richard Farnsworth: I met two of his sons about the second day we started. I believe they're both truck drivers. They came out to the set. And his daughter, Diane, was there for about a week before. Sissy Spacek worked with her. She had a speech impediment and Sissy worked with her to pick that up. She stayed a week or so. Everyone that had seen Alvin on the way came out to watch us film. They remembered him coming along the highway and remembered where he camped along the way. We took the identical route that he took from his little house in Laurens, Iowa to Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. We filmed both the interior and exterior of his house.

Question from Sockey: Do you think older actors and actresses have a harder time getting roles? Why aren’t there more films featuring seasoned talent?

Richard Farnsworth: Well, it seems like they're making films for the younger age groups. I've noticed that I haven't seen too many older actors or actresses get much in the last 10-15 years. I have an idea that it's because the people they think are marketable are between 18 and 35 years old. That might have something to do with it.

Question from Aurora: Mr. Farnsworth. One, will you be wearing Western formal attire to the Oscar ceremony? Secondly, what was it like working with Steve McQueen in "Tom Horn"?

Richard Farnsworth: Well, I'll wear a regular tuxedo. As for the second part of the question, I've worked with Steve off and on through the years. In fact, I was a stuntman and doubled for him in "Wanted, Dead or Alive" in 1955. I worked with him on "Papillion" and several other films, too.

Question from Drake: Looking back on your career, do you prefer to think of yourself as an actor or stuntman? Which did you enjoy more?

Richard Farnsworth: I enjoy the acting more now but at the time I started acting, I was 57 years old and had done stunts for 35 years. That was my occupation and I did well at it. As you get older, the ground gets harder, though, and acting seemed the logical place to go. I happened to get a nomination on my first attempt at acting for "Comes a Horseman" in 1977, with Jane Fonda. After I got that nomination, I figured I could make it as an actor.

Question from Chat_Worm: How many hours did you sit on that lawnmower?

Richard Farnsworth: It would average two to three hours a day and, of course, a lawnmower only does five miles an hour, so it was a pretty slow trip. He did about eight hours a day, about 30 miles. It took him six weeks to go 340 miles. I was on it long enough to get darn tired of it, I can tell you that.

Question from Aurora: Mr. Farnsworth, are you going to write a book about your life? (I hope so!)

Richard Farnsworth: No, I haven't yet. I've had several offers. I guess I shouldn't wait too long if I'm going to do it but, right now, I've got no plans for a book.

Question from Sockey: Any new projects in the works?

Richard Farnsworth: Not really. I might do something with Wilford Brimley. He's an old sidekick of mine. It would be in the fall but it's not off the ground yet so I don't want to say too much. Outside of that, I don't have plans. I've had several scripts but none seem right for me.

Question from Drake: If you had your choice of any film, western, drama, etc, what would you do? What is your dream role?

Richard Farnsworth: A western, naturally. I've made my living on western, outdoor films. That would be my choice. There are several I'd like to do, like the life of Wyatt Earp, the latter years, after the Keystone years. He went to Alaska and had quite an interesting life. He had a little mine and worked around pictures, films, a bit. I'd like to do the story of John J. Pershing, who headed an American expeditionary force in France in 1917. I favor them, physically, and I'd like to do those stories.

Question from Chat_Worm: Who is your dream leading lady?

Richard Farnsworth: I don't have a dream leading lady. As far as I know, I've only had one, Jackie Burrows, and she was fine.

Question from Candyce: What was your most memorable stunt?

Richard Farnsworth: Trying to get paid for it! No, I don't know. I've done so many. Most of my stuff was done for 50-60 years, getting off of trains, onto coaches, etc. The one I remember is getting kicked under a train and getting back on a horse. Luckily, I hit the side and didn't go under it because that would have been the end of it. But I didn't do anything that extraordinary.

Question from Drake: Do you like working with the Disney company?

Richard Farnsworth: Oh sure. I worked for the Disney company way back in the 50's. I was kind of a stunt coordinator on "Texas John Slaughter," "Daniel Boone," and "Davy Crockett" and worked for a lot of Disney’s series. But then I hadn't worked with the company until more recently. Until the early 60's, though, I worked there quite a bit as a stuntman or an action director.

Question from Aurora: Do you ever appear at any Western "festivals" or cowboy poetry gatherings?

Richard Farnsworth: Oh yeah, I've done a lot of those. I've been to most of the Western film festivals and I usually present at the Oklahoma awards every year. I've been installed in the Hall of Great Western Performers back there. I usually go back when actors are awarded the Western Wranglers award. I've been to Cheyenne and Reno and other award festivals. There's one next month in Santa Clarita honoring Dale Evans. I'll be honored there, too, for something. Yes, I've attended a lot of them.

Question from Drake: What has made Westerns such a popular genre?

Richard Farnsworth: Well, it's really "America." It's history, it's kind of the way we started, how the West was founded. Has a lot of glamour to it. I think they'll still do well with a good one. They did so many in the 50's, they kind of burned themselves out on it. I'd still like to do a good one and I know other actors would, too. We're all kids at heart and we still want to play cowboys and Indians and Calvary. Most are family-oriented and people love them. I hope they'll make them for a long time.

Question from Chat_Worm: What's your all-time favorite movie?

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Richard Farnsworth: "Red River." I was a stuntman on that one. It was John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. I doubled for Monty Clift and did his stunts.

Question from Drake: Having been a stunt man, did you treat your stuntmen really well once you became an actor, having been there?

Richard Farnsworth: Oh, sure. I'm still a stuntman at heart. I helped found the Stuntmen's Association in 1961. Only a couple of people have had to double me in the films I've done. But I treat them well. I'm just a working man like they are.

Question from Chat_Worm: Were the "greats" like Wayne and Clift approachable?

Richard Farnsworth: I don't know about approachable. I worked with them; we carried on conversations like anyone in the crew. With me, they were approachable but I don't know about others. Stuntmen and actors got along darn good on Westerns. Without them, we wouldn't have worked; without us, they wouldn't have looked good. There was a bond there and still is.

Chat Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts to share with us?

Richard Farnsworth: Well, I guess my final thought would be, may the best man win at the Oscars! I'm heading out there tomorrow. It's tough this year. There are some heavyweights…nominated.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today!

Richard Farnsworth: And thanks very much for asking me!