Screen legend Frank Langella doesn't mince words when I ask him about aging.
"All of the wisdom is wonderful," he says. "There is also a sense of inevitability about things.
"The good news is I tend to worry a bit less because you can't control time passing," he says.
He can control how he feels about it.
"It's nonsense to say that I wouldn't go back - at least for a little while," he says. "If I could wake up 35 again at the height of my strength and virility and good looks then I'd go back. I think anyone would want that, but you can't have it.
"At the same time, I like where I am right now," he says. "The point in life is you have to make the most of what you have right now.
"I can honestly say that these are the best decades of my life," says Langella who stars in the new movie "Robot & Frank."
FRANK LANGELLA'S NEW MOVIE "ROBOT & FRANK"
In his new movie "Robot & Frank," he's emoting opposite a hunk of metal with some megabytes inside of it.
"I've worked with animate beings who had far less to give than the robots," Langella jokes.
When you ask him for names, the deep, rich voice laughs. "Don't be foolish. I will never name names."
"Robot & Frank" is set in the near future and stars Langella as an ex-jewel thief who receives a gift from his son in the form of a robot who serves as a butler. It doesn't take long for the older man to re-program his butler into a heist partner. The film also stars James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon and Peter Sarsgaard.
"I thought it was one of the most interesting roles I've been presented with in a long time. It was just such a great story and it all worked out so wonderfully. It doesn't always happen that way."
He says that communicating with a robot costars wasn't that tough.
"It wasn't difficult at all," he says. "Frank is a man who is so completely set in his ways. He's about not being affected by anyone else. He doesn't let his kids get to him. The only one who gets to him is this woman he still has a crush on.
"I suppose when someone is as profoundly certain about the way they are in life it's difficult to dub them selfish. It's just their own self protection."
AN AMAZING LIFE
Langella is a native of Bayonne, New Jersey. He's best known for his roles in "Frost/Nixon" (2008), "Superman Returns" (2006) and "Unknown" (2011).
Langella will soon film an upcoming drama with Gena Rowlands. "It's a story of three couples - older, middle, younger - all in various stages of relationships. I've never met Gena, but she wrote me a very nice note."
Langella is divorced and the father of two. He lived with actress Whoppi Goldberg for a period of time.
"I didn't expect the work that I'm doing now," he says of his career.
"When you're younger, you're always thinking that everything you do is going to take you somewhere. With actors it becomes, 'Will I get this award? Will I get the next role?'
"Now, it's just about loving the work," he says. "I'm fortunate that I can still act.
DEALING WITH AGING
"I don't do anything extraordinary to take care of myself," he says. "I should be better.
He has a great philosophy of aging.
"I remember having a conversation with one of my kids about aging. I said, 'Why are you worrying about something you can't control.
"I can't control the days, weeks and months going by.
"What I can control is how I feel about aging," Langella says. "I'm always amused when I see all this crud they're selling women to smack on their faces. That isn't going to do anything to stop aging.
"We'll age no matter what," he says. "The funny thing is men are just as vein these days. They have injections to hide those pesky wrinkles. They want that lotion from France."
"I think we should all just relax and age naturally."
