As I write to you all, I'm in my 10'x10' jail cell in Los Angeles.  It's quite comfortable and fairly well lit.  I guess the fact that I can "come and go" as I please, makes it seem like I'm just "home", but tricks like these don't fool me..........

Many Racks and Razors readers know you from your role as Ted in 'Friday the 13th Part 2' (1981) though since that time you have been in many other films.  Looking back what did you find unique about that particular shoot? 

Y'know, it was only my second job as an actor, so I had nothing to compare it to, other than some summers I spent in the Catskill and Pocono mountains, working as a musician in the hotels there.  I had a cabin to stay in, just like this place in Kent Connecticut, working then as an actor... So we were just a bunch of young pups, happy to get a month's work.  Who knew that 25 years later, we'd be chatting about it?

Ted is one of the few camp counselors to survive the wrath of Jason.  Were you ever approached to reprise the role in a sequel? 

NO!  Dammit!  Don't those fools see what we all see?!  I'm sorry.... I'm just kinda upset that nobody DID ask Ted to come back n' kick Jason's ass.  The hooded clod hurt my friends.... now I'm pissed....

'Friday the 13th' fans can be a bit "intense" --- what is the strangest request a fan has ever made of you? 

I get asked to be a woman's love slave all the time, but I figure that that happens to most guys... No.... I think it was the blood sample request from a Chinese midget living in Malaysia, at the time I believe.  She said it was for her "friend", but I saw right through that....  She later ran for political office.  I think she won....

Are you still recognized from that role 25 years later? 

Amazingly yes.... it's such a blast for me to see that look on someone face when they first see me, and recognize me from something.  Remember, I've done well a hundred commercials as well as dozens of episodic television roles, so this face has been seems by millions and millions of folks, and every now and then someone will look at me, blink a bit more than usual and point uncontrollably.  I love that...........

I want to hear about 'Christine' (1983) as well.  From an actor's point of view what do you consider to be John Carpenter's greatest strength as a director?

I'm not a director, so I really don't have a very clear idea of his artistry, but I am a human, and he was a really good one to me.  He was relaxed and calm when all around him was insane madness.  I loved that....

You were also in another Stephen King film adaptation the 1992 movie 'Sleepwalkers'.  What was your predominant memory of shooting that mother & son & the blood of virgins film?

The mother, Alice Krige, and her husband, writer-director, Paul Schoolman, had been learning the martial art that I teach, for about five years at the time (and they're still students).  We were in class chatting about work we had coming up, and I told them about my gig on Sleepwalkers and we all crapped our pants laughing, when she told me that she was working as the lead in the same film....

You also have a good role as Abell in the 2003 sci-fi flick 'Alien Hunter' with James Spader.  Do you think aliens exist and if so what would they discover if they abducted Stu Charno for the obligatory mental and physical probe?

The official report I got back from the last aliens that abducted me, unanimously agreed that I don't actually exist.  It happened when I was in Bulgaria to shoot Alien Hunter, and the abduction occurred on a cold night, walking in the dark hills there.  My memory of it is kinda sketchy, but that always happens when I drink vodka.  Anyway, they said that though I obviously DO exist physically, there is no "Stu" in my head, thinking n' making decisions n' plans n' stuff.  What I hear in my head is actually kind of like a radio broadcast and I can't stop it or even hardly affect it at all.  I think that's when I passed out..........

Speaking of sci-fi credits -- I am sooooo impressed that you co-wrote three episodes of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'.  Did you approach that task more as a writer with a task at hand or a huge fan of the show eager to see his idea realized?

That was with my first ex-wife (regretfully, I have two ex's now...), and she was sitting on the crapper and yelled out, "I figured out how to kill the Nanites!”  We were both fans of the show and had both been writing for years n' years (she's now still a successful a writer), and managed to get to pitch to the open-minded staff of writers and producers there.  We pitched on Valentines Day and brought candies for everyone and we all became great friends.  They wound up producing three of our stories.... So, we were fans and they were open.... a miracle...

Another TV credit that I think R&R readers will be interested in was your work as the 'Bell Hop Psychic Serial Killer' in the 'X-Files' episode 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose'.  Can you give a quick description of your experience on the set? 

It was shot in Vancouver, Canada, which is a beautiful city...  I knew Darren Morgan, who was one of the writers on the show, and he wrote the role with me in mind for it.  I think, he actually wanted me to kick the koodies out of Mulder in that last scene, but I didn't get to do much... Scully shot me.   Duchovney does a fantastically hilarious Christopher Walken impression, by the way... 

You were originally a musician before you got into acting and since then have also gone into the martial arts field.  What common thread do you see as linking all three of those disciplines?

I also build custom wooden furniture, and more.  What they all have in common is ME.  Stu Art...  Artistry, is what manifests in all these parts of my life, from -- improvising jazz, to creating a cabinet, to word play, to moving with power, to acting under imaginary circumstances -- these are all arts, and are manifestations of how life moves through me....  I think I'm just a passenger on this bus....

What scares you in real life?

This question............           shit...        now I'm gonna have nightmares................