Childhood Idols Quotes

Even when I was a young kid, I always told my uncle that, when I became a wrestler, I wanted to be Rey Mysterio, Jr. and I wanted to wear the mask. I always pictured myself wearing a mask. I dreamed about it for so long. I wanted to be one of those luchadores who wore the mask, the cape, and the fancy outfits.

When I first started rapping, I used to just jock Jay Z super hard. Back when I was like 14 and 15, it was, like, Jay Z, Ice Cube, and Lil Wayne.

When I was a little kid, I'd always go to WWE shows and I was a huge fan of Razor Ramon.

When I was very little, I was into Michael Jackson. At six or seven, it was Madonna, but she's not what she used to be. I've been into everything from Edith Piaf to Joe Strummer to the Velvet Underground to Suicide to A Tribe Called Quest to African music.

Footballers have a great opportunity to be a good example because the kids want to listen to you and be like you in many ways.

Every once in a while as an actor, you do something that the kids really like.

The first people I ever saw were probably Little Richard and Gene Vincent.

Who have I been starstruck by in real life? One of the weirdest ones was, when we were making 'Cry-Baby,' David Nelson from 'The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet.' I couldn't believe he was sitting in my living room. Certainly Patricia Hearst. Tab Hunter. A lot of the stars I've worked with, when I first got them.

I always idolized guys like Deion Sanders, Barry Sanders, Steve Young and the entire 49ers team, really. I was a huge 49ers fan growing up.

It's good for kids to look up to sporting role models.

I was obsessed with Carol Burnett and then Tracey Ullman. Like, obsessed with their shows.

It's true that when I started out, I was more a fan of attacking players and one in particular: the Brazilian Ronaldo, Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima. Another of my idols was Claudio Caniggia, an Argentinian forward with long hair, who I liked a lot. It's because of him that I started to grow my hair long!

I can't even tell you how many 8, 9, 10 year old kids have come up to me and said, 'You are my favorite wrestler, and I've seen you on 'the network' or on YouTube.'

When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted to be was Elvis Presley.

Mainly it's the parents who remember me. But the kids today, what they do is go and Google you. A lot of them turn up and they know everything about me. They say: 'You scored 346 goals' or 'You wore the No9 shirt for Liverpool.'

I watched Gretzky, I watched Lemieux. Maybe it's the time when you're playing, but for a kid coming into the league, you play the Boston Bruins and you just watched Bobby Orr.

Kids tend to look up to sports figures and entertainers, probably more than they should, but I've tried to use that in a positive way.

When I was a kid, I always looked up to people like B.B. King and Ray Charles.

The first 'Saturday Night Live' season I was heavily interested in was the one with Martin Short, Billy Crystal, and Christopher Guest. There was just something about Martin Short in particular. I really related to him and hung on his every word and mannerism, so I started impersonating all of his characters as an 8th grader.

When I was growing up, Keane and Sheringham were my idols, and they wore 10. So it was always my dream to wear it.

I always was trying to make people laugh as a kid. I was a big fan of Carol Burnett and Gilda Radner. I watched them and I remember feeling as a child, when I heard the laughter they got, a little jealous that they made someone laugh like that.

The people who had the most impact on me when I was young were Freud and Darwin, but growing up I also had my film idols.

During my school and college days, the three Khans - Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh - were superstars for me and will always be. Their movies were eagerly awaited every Friday.

Children ran up to me shouting, 'Columbo!' At first, it gave me great pleasure, but later, I said to myself that those children should have had their own heroes instead of admiring a cop from Los Angeles.

I used to watch people like Raven-Symone and, you know, the Olsens at a young age, and Will Smith and people like that, and just looking at them at a young age on TV. And just thinking to myself, 'I can do that,' and questioning why I wasn't there.