‘Hung’ Star Thomas Jane on Capitalist Mind Control and How Addicts are Smarter than Normal People: The Fix Interview

On the same day HBO announced his show was cancelled, Hung star Thomas Jane revealed himself to be a far cry from the humble, enterprising, beer-drinking character he plays on the critically acclaimed comedy-drama about a struggling schoolteacher who turns to turning tricks.

In an interview with The Fix -- which is fast becoming the number one destination for revealing celebrity interviews (assuming they can speak to addiction and recovery issues) -- Jane gave his two cents on an array of topics, from addiction to the American school system to capitalism. He certainly has plenty of opinions, and is willing to speak freely about personal topics -- except when he's not.

Here are some highlights of the interview:

On whether or not he was ever a male prostitute in real life:

(In answer to the question Were you a gay prostitute, the way all those stories said you were?)

No, I never said that. But I do work with the prostitute kids now.

(In answer to the follow-up question, So you were misquoted?)

Yeah, definitely. In the interviews that I did, I never said I was a prostitute. I was talking about my [early] time in Hollywood: I said that I'd had a sexually adventurous time and I was trying to relate that to how I play a prostitute on TV-trying to relate my experience to my character's experience-and well, people heard what they wanted to hear.

(Here's a link to the Los Angeles Times interview that started the whole thing.)

On why addiction is part of a capitalist conspiracy:

If you give people drugs and alcohol, they tend to not worry too much that you're ripping them off on the parking meters and you're putting people in office that don't know what the f--k they're doing. We tend to let a lot of s--t slide with a bottle of Jack Daniel's in front of us.

On how addicts are smarter than normal people (Jane is a recovering addict):

Addicts are usually more sensitive and a little more intelligent [than others]: they're absorbing what they're being taught at a little bit higher frequency and they're mirroring a little bit better than the average American. And addicts are usually sort of spiritual astronauts to begin with: they're on a spiritual quest, even as they're doing the drugs, they're doing it to transcend themselves in a way that a normal person maybe is not.

On his DUI arrest (which came after previously being pulled over and let go three times the same night):

I had just lost the will to be a part of the planet. It was a tough time. My friend had died suddenly. It was late at night and it was a very nihilistic time. Getting woken up in a jail in Bakersfield to sign an autograph at four o'clock in the morning was when I said to myself, 'This is not the way I want to live my life.'

On the American school system:

Addiction issues would drastically be reduced in this country if we were taught what our God-given birthright as conscious humans is from an early age instead of having our brains actively switched off in school. That's what school is: a prison for your mind...My kid's not in the American school system-no f--king way... There are alternative schools, and I highly suggest that everyone look into them.

We highly suggest that everyone read the full interview at TheFix.com, along with the Huffington Post story that called our attention to it.