Golden Globe winner Tim Robbins is known as a great actor, but we cannot avoid the musical legacy that he inherited from his father, a member of the acclaimed 60s folk band, The Highwaymen. One of his sons is becoming a rock star, and Tim himself has his own band, The Rogues Gallery – they played two concerts in Italy, in Spoleto and Ravello, which yielded a new live album of folk-inspired Americana material.  We talked to the actor in the middle of mixing the album and asked him how much music influences his acting skills.

“I remember when I was a young actor I had, remember the Walkman?  I would be listening to it and I used music to motivate my characters.  So I would pick a kind of different music for each character and I would listen to that music when I wasn’t on set or I wasn’t acting.  And as a director, I always use music and I prefer when I am rehearsing, to have music as well.  At the Actor’s Gang, we often have live music during our theatre shows. Music has always been essential for me. “