As a self-described spiritualist who comes from a long line of spiritualists – is there anything you don’t believe in?
Well, I don’t believe in associating with beings that have no souls. Like psychic vampires. Right? If you go through life, you’ll either meet a psychic vampire every day or every year. You should avoid beings like that, that’s a good rule for life. That’s what I don’t believe in, associating with them. I’m sure you’ve met some beings that draw the energy out of you if you give them 10 minutes. But after 10 minutes, you gotta run. I give everybody 10 minutes.
Have you ever lived in a haunted house?
Yeah, I believe so. Certain little things happened. I never saw a spirit. My friend Gary saw a spirit in the Hollywood Hills, North Hollywood, on Mama Cass’s old estate. You know the great Mamas and the Papas? A great band. This was Mama Cass’s house. Jimi Hendrix stayed there, as did John Lennon and Ringo Starr; Harry Nilsson owned it for a while. Donna and I bought that house in the 80s and lived there for many years, raised three beautiful daughters there. And sure enough, people would see a big, dark shape along the top stairway. I remember the housekeeper saying she heard the Stairmaster going when no one was there. Her name would be called, she felt touches on the shoulder. I remember vividly one night when Donna had some jewellery sitting there and the bracelets started to do this little whirlwind. Now, maybe that’s the energy between us, who knows? But it might have been Mama Cass.
(L-R) Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters. Photograph: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy
What has been your most memorable interaction with a fan?
I guess having Bill Clinton join the Blues Brothers to play saxophone? It was at the opening of the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. That was a pretty spectacular night. Bill was a fan of the Blues Brothers so he agreed to play sax with us. I think we did I Saw Her Standing There, the Beatles tune. That was a beautiful interaction with a true fan of the music – and a two-term Democratic president! He had the full secret service escort, of course. Remember that movie [Guarding Tess] with Nicolas Cage and Shirley MacLaine, where he’s the secret service agent assigned to her? Shirley is great. She’s a great believer, of course, in, shall we say, the unexplained, the inexplicable other-worldly matters, the presence of alien beings. And then, of course, Nicolas Cage. I will watch anything he’s in. He just warms my heart when he comes on screen. I loved him in that film. Such a great pairing.
So yeah, Bill Clinton would get that title for life, absolutely. Jimmy Belushi and I rode Harleys right up to the stage and go off and played, then Bill joined us. That was pretty exciting.
Former US president Bill Clinton performs a saxophone solo with Dan Aykroyd of the Blues Brothers in 2002. Photograph: Todd Plitt/Getty Images
You spend every 1 July, which is both Canada Day and your birthday, performing some kind of civic duty in Canada. What is the plan this year?
Sadly this year I will be travelling, but I have had the honour of doing things like starting a parade, or the best one was when I was sworn in as federal immigration judge, and I welcomed half a dozen immigrant families to Canada as they were getting their citizenship. This was in 2001. It was so great to see the hope in these people coming to Canada and ostensibly living a better life. So it’s Judge Ackroyd now. I’d prefer that going forward. I was only a judge for two hours but I am going to say it for life.
What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Just listen. So many times I’m talking over people because I love the sound of my own voice. I’m a blowhard and a gas bag. People who are smarter than me will say “Just listen” – and I’m trying to learn that.
You converted John Belushi to blues music before you made The Blues Brothers. I once read that you put on a particular record in a bar that kicked off his love for blues. Do you remember what the record was?
Well, John was from Chicago, so he had been to blues clubs that I had never even heard of – he’d been to the Checkerboard, Wise Fools, Kingston Mines, Legends. He knew blues – but he was just a heavy metal fan. He loved Grand Funk Railroad and Cream – and that’s great, because it’s all from blues!
Anyway, we were playing this record, Straight Up, by this Canadian band called the Downchild Blues Band. Do a search, everybody, and get some party music for the summer! So we were listening and he said “Who’s this?” I said “Oh, this is a beautiful local blues band that loves the stuff” and he said “Oh this is good. This is good.” I said “Well it’s the blues, John, you’re from Chicago!” But from that record we started to work on the act. We perfected it with Tom “Bones” Malone, our arranger and horn player, and Paul Shaffer. We put together a super band that’s unparalleled. Check out Briefcase Full of Blues and Going Back to Miami by the Blues Brothers. If you’re driving, put on Blues Brothers and you’ll have a beautiful drive.
Dan Aykroyd, Ray Charles and John Belushi in The Blues Brothers. Photograph: Photo 12/Alamy
Jamie Lee Curtis called you the best screen kisser she’s ever done a scene with. Care to comment?
Well. That’s an intimacy coach issue. Whenever I did have that kind of scene – and there were not many [laugh] – I was always conscious of making the other person comfortable. So that’s what she’s talking about, feeling comfortable and real in the scene, to actually be in the moment. And it wasn’t hard to pretend to like kissing Jamie.
Do you have a nemesis?
I would say ignorant, well-armed people. I could walk out the door tonight and who knows? What a world, huh.
What book, album or film do you always return to, and why?
Well – the Bible. I’m a lapsed Catholic, OK? But hopefully somewhere in there there’s some shred of Judeo-Christian value left. I’m trying to live on those fumes as much as I can. But the Bible has great stories, great quotes and wonderful wisdom from Christ, and in the end, it’s the only book left. So I do turn to it. To whom much is given, much will be required – that’s what Christ says and I certainly am trying to live that as I go on.
The poster for the Dan Aykroyd and John Candy film The Great Outdoors. Photograph: Universal Pictures/RGA/RGR Collection/Alamy
As for film, I always return to The Day The Earth Stood Still, that spectacular movie with Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal about the saucer landing in Washington DC in the 1950s. What a great film – and it could really happen, that there’s some more powerful interstellar beings with stronger weapons than us out there. If we don’t smarten up here with all this nuclear talk and nuclear play, they’re going to come down here and straighten us out. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could believe that?
If you had to fight a famous person, who would it be, how would you fight them and who would win?
I’d rather fight an animal than a human being. Let me go off on a tangent, maybe we can come to an answer. The ultimate answer to that, human or animal, is: I would flee in the other direction.
How about a bear? I did a scene once with two bears, a black bear and a grizzly [in The Great Outdoors with John Candy]. We got on well! They were both much better actors than I was. Bart was the grizzly and the other one was called Uncle Joe. They decided there should only be one bear scene in the movie, so my scene with Uncle Joe was cut. We shot it at night – I had to sit next to the bear with my arm around it and its arm around me, and drink beer. He had his paw up and I was feeding him and we were both drunk. I kind of liked Uncle Joe.
But I would flee from a real fight with a bear. Bart the grizzly was intimidating. One swipe of the paw, you know? That’s what I loved about my career as an actor – I can turn to you today and say “I worked with that bear. That bear and I did a film together so many years ago …” And Bart’s son and grandson are also in the business because they need grizzlies in Hollywood still. Thank God!
