- [Mark Horvath] Steve.
- Yes, Mark, old chap.
- [Mark Horvath] (laughing) Nice to meet ya.
- My pleasure to meet you, old chap.
- [Mark Horvath] We just met a little bit ago.
- We met eight minutes ago, maybe.
- [Mark Horvath] Eight minutes ago,
you asked me to watch your cart for a second.
- And now I'm gonna give you some time right here.
- [Mark Horvath] It was a good barter, good barter.
- It's a fair exchange, it seems to me, sir.
- [Mark Horvath] Now, you were just saying something,
that you learned something about women.
- No, I didn't say that, sorry.
Now, you're misquoting me, so you're disappointing me.
I didn't say I learned something about women,
I realized that all along.
You do not have to look like Cary Grant,
Errol Flynn, or Paul Newman
in order to get a beautiful woman.
Right? You--
- [Mark Horvath] I'm gonna test that theory.
- That's true.
That gives me great respect for females.
If you're a decent guy and have a job,
not right now, I'm hardly in position...
I'd be ashamed to meet up with a woman.
Though they smile at me,
even though, this gives me respect.
These women, because they see I'm pushing a shopping cart,
which is evidence of picking up cans and bottles,
and that I'm homeless, but they still smile at me
and say, "hello."
So I say, my god, imagine if I really
did something.
- [Mark Horvath] I'm gonna pan a second to show the--
- Whatever the word pan means, you see, this is...
Technology is foreign to me.
I'm a nature boy.
- [Mark Horvath] So, you told me
you were out here nine months, homeless.
- Precisely nine months, right. July.
- [Mark Horvath] I mean, this is the middle of Hollywood.
You sleep around the corner? I mean...
- I sleep right across the street, sir.
Across the metals.
In that hideous-looking alley.
But it's not bad because the people are so nice.
- [Mark Horvath] So you sleep outside in an alley?
- Oh, señor. I spend, I would dare say, 23 and a half hours
out of the day out of doors, right?
The only time I'm indoors is when I'm buying tobacco
or alcohol.
I exercise every night.
I've kept myself in shape.
And I came here to sell a screenplay,
which I do have in the bottom of my...
I didn't come here empty handed, you see?
- [Mark Horvath] And what's your screenplay on?
- My screenplay is titled "The Late Bloomer."
I expect it to be greeted well.
As soon as I take, see, I came here without a clue
how to sell it.
It turns out selling it is harder than writing it.
- [Mark Horvath] You're right outside of Jimmy Kimmel,
this is where Jimmy Kimmel is.
- But he has nothing to do with screenplays.
I came to the right place, I am in Hollywood, right.
This is the right place, it'll happen soon.
It'll happen, I'm a patient man.
- [Mark Horvath] So, how do you survive?
What's a day like?
- How do I survive?
I wake up in the morning, way before 6:00,
but I really don't get started 'til about 6:30,
and then I start pushing a cart
in search of aluminum cans,
plastic bottles, and glass.
And hope to make enough money for beer and cigarettes.
I eat food entirely out of dumpsters,
that's where you caught me, coming out of there.
The Baja Fresh dumpster, but...
Yeah, but I'm tough son of a bitch,
I would be able to do this, right?
- [Mark Horvath] Sure. What's the future gonna be like?
- Oh, señor, have you got a crystal ball?
- [Mark Horvath] Ha ha, I wish I did.
- What's the future gonna be like?
I mean, that's a foolish question señor.
That doesn't belong in your doc...
What's the future gonna be like? Right.
- [Mark Horvath] Well, this is raw, unedited.
So what you say goes out there.
- What is the future gonna be like?
Jesus Christ. What kind of a question is that?
You see, I already have a little start toward tomorrow.
Plus, I have a lot of beer on me,
I was able to buy it at a low price.
Plus, I have $8 in my pocket, so I feel rich,
actually, right now.
- [Mark Horvath] You have $8 and that makes you feel rich?
- Comparatively speaking, old chap, right?
I was never interested in getting...
I'm from the Hamptons, by the way.
Where my sister lives, where the people are richer
than in Malibu.
Did you ever hear of the Hamptons?
The beach front homes that sell for $30 and $40 million?
Right.
- [Mark Horvath] Yeah.
- Alright, so comparatively speaking--
- [Mark Horvath] So, how did you end up on the streets?
How did you...
- I'm gonna answer that by giving an answer
that no one you're gonna interview
is ever gonna give this answer.
I ended up on the streets
because I have the worst disease in the world.
And what is that?
I'm a romantic.
I only wanted to be a writer, and, by god,
I'll be a writer living on the streets.
Then I'll be able to really prove to the world,
writing is extraordinarily difficult, first of all,
and under the circumstances that I'm living in,
I have written something that is very worthwhile.
Have you ever read any screenplays yourself, sir?
- [Mark Horvath] Yes.
- Name the last one you've read.
- [Mark Horvath] I can't.
- You see, I keep asking these people, right.
Most people are full of shit when it comes to this.
You watch movies, but you haven't read the screenplay.
I do both, right.
- [Mark Horvath] I'll be real with you,
I haven't read a screenplay in probably 14, 15 years.
- Right, so you don't know anything about screenplays.
I got a good one right in here.
I wouldn't have come out here if I didn't have a good one.
I'm confident, I've been trying to write for decades
while holding odd jobs.
Mostly supermarkets, stock clerk jobs,
and then I was a motel manager in Vegas.
Then the place closed down and I was on the streets
for two and a half years,
then I came here, so I've been on the streets
for almost three and a half years, actually.
- [Mark Horvath] So, what's your view of homelessness,
if you're a romantic?
What's your view of homelessness?
- Well, it never comes down to one thing.
Right, any answer to any question is always a combination
of things.
So, one, I'm gonna do 900 push ups in about an hour from now
so, my view, I treat it like an athletic field.
I'm gonna show that homeless is tough,
but I'm tougher.
This is, when I lost that job because the place closed down
in Vegas, the guy goes, "What are you gonna do now?"
And I said, this is four years ago, he goes,
"What are you gonna do now?"
I said, "I'm gonna camp out."
This was winter, February, he goes,
winter is tough.
And my answer was, which I love, I'm a natural dramatist.
"Winter is tough, but I'm tougher."
And I proved it, right?
I look at it
as a way to show how tough I am,
which I've proven.
I'm not 18 years old, I'm 58 fucking years old,
and I'm not built like Arnold Schwarzenegger, either.
I'm tough, I wanted to prove I'm tough.
And to be a writer you have to be tough also.
- [Mark Horvath] You've got 15 seconds,
15, 30 seconds--
- Well, you're not giving me anything,
Jesus Christ, that's up to you, brother.
- [Mark Horvath] Well, what's your last words?
What would you like to say?
- My last words is that I feel very privileged
to have the feeling that no matter how bad things are
on the outside, and they are bad for me right now,
I had the best parents, the best job opportunities,
women, I still love being alive.
That's my last statement, right?
I don't give a fuck how bad it is,
and it is bad now,
but I'll improve it. Shortly.
I love being alive.
I'm thankful for being alive and I love these blue skies
in southern California, and all the pretty girls.
Right, so I'm glad to be here.
And you see I ain't exactly flourishing.
But I can handle it, I'll flourish soon.
- [Mark Horvath] Thank you,
you've been a real encouragement to me.
- Well, it was my pleasure to meet you, old chap.
Right, and great luck with your endeavor here.