Leo Fitzpatrick

I never went to school for art or was told what to like or when. So every day is a learning process, like most of life.

I'm not an artist or a collector. I'm a skateboard kid with no one to tell me if I'm not doing things the right way.

Miramax didn't introduce the actors at any of the screenings. That's why a lot of people thought 'Kids' was a documentary. I still meet people who think it was real.

I just thought it made sense to call a book 'Not Garbage,' even though the majority of it was going to be the scraps from people's studios; like newspaper clippings, weird drawings and stuff they might not necessarily show as artists.

Two of my favorite artists are Josh Smith and Joe Bradley. But I argued against them for years, until I grew to love them and felt stupid for my immediate reaction towards their work.

I've known Larry Clark since I was fourteen. I've always skateboarded in Manhattan. Larry got into the scene in the early '90s, taking pictures and skating with us.

I had no money. I just figured out hustles to get by, like maybe selling my clothes. I wanted to travel around and be broke and live in sketchy apartments.

I met Roger Ebert at an independent-film awards or something. And he said, 'When I saw you just now, I wanted to punch you in the face. And then I had to remember you're an actor. So, congratulations!' Those are my accolades.

I was a very close friend of Dash Snow's, so whenever I get a chance to revisit his work, that's always amazing for me.