PLANES' Dane Cook Shares Dusty's Obstacle: "I Feel Nauseous Around People, How Could I Entertain the Masses?"

Dane Cook is a stand-up comedian and actor. He's performed two sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden and has released five comedy albums. He's starred in films alongside Jessica Simpson, Kevin Costner, and Steve Carell. To top it off, he's the voice of Dusty Crophopper in the spin-off to Disney's Cars, the movie Planes, in theaters August 9.

I knew all of the above about him, but one thing I didn't know was how enthusiastic and genuine he could be! It was my first time conducting professional on-camera interviews, and I couldn't have booked a better interviewee, Dane Cook.

I felt butterflies in my stomach as I stepped into the Museum of Flying, an appropriate location for the interview. Before I knew it, I was shaking Dane Cook's hand. He introduced himself in a down-to-earth way. Turned out that we were both in the same boat – it was also his first time doing on-camera interviews! Knowing this, my butterflies flew away.

"I wanted to be an entertainer from a very young age, but I was so nervous. But if I feel nauseous around people, and I want to entertain the masses, how am I going to be able to push myself to find that?" He continued to say that he could definitely relate to his character Dusty in pushing himself to new heights.

DUSTY AND HIS MENTOR SKIPPER

If Dane Cook had not overcome his shyness when he was young, I wouldn't have interviewed him that day! I'm so glad he shared his story so that my generation can be inspired to realize what we can accomplish by stepping out of our comfort zones.

Dane continued about how he followed his dreams even though his path was unclear. "When you're a young kid and you want to be an entertainer, there's no guarantee that you're even going to be able to make a living," he reflects. "It's a lot of luck. You want to prepare as much as you can but ultimately you don't know where it's going to lead you. I also knew I had to remove some weight that was on my heart."

I had always heard about an actor's long, hard journey and the uncertainty of the industry, but hearing it first hand from Dane Cook really opened my eyes to the reality of show business. Dane fulfilled his dream of being an entertainer as a stand-up comedian, despite the precariousness of the profession and the possible pitfalls along the way. I admired his perseverance in taking leaps of faith to new levels.

DANE COOK IS TRULY INCREDIBLE

After the interview, Dane took the time to tweet me, "For a 14 year old you were one of the best interviews talking about my film Disney Planes. Thx for being fun/professional!" He has no idea how his kind words have impacted my life!

First published @ www.kidspickflicks.com

See Cassandra's interview here: http://youtu.be/zwiZmYuAOYY