Q 13

PLAYBOY: Harvey Keitel actually uttered the words "Holy Mary" in U-571. Did he go blue in the face trying to restrain the "motherfuckers" we've come to expect from him?

Jon Bon Jovi: I wasn't in that scene. He probably said "motherfuckers" and they just took the knife to it. Harvey's a method actor from the old school, which was a great education for the younger guys and a novice like me. One of those guys said Harvey was a Marine. We're in makeup early one morning and I'm trying to find some way to bond with him. The first words out of me were that my father and mother were Marines. He says, "Say that again." I told him my father and mother were Marines. My mother was the first to go into the Marine Corps, my father met her and they got married. "Where did he go to boot camp?" "Parris Island." "I was there!" he says. "What troop? What year?" Oh, Jesus Christ, how do I know? "Call your father." It's four o'clock in the morning in New York, and he tells me to get on the phone. "Dad, I'm in a makeup chair with Harvey Keitel. He was a Marine. He wants to know what troop you were in." My father goes, "How the fuck do I know? Tell him who gives a shit." I say, "Harvey, he's trying to remember." Turns out Harvey was in a year earlier than my dad. At the end of the filming Harvey bought me an acting book, and inside he wrote, "To the son of a Marine: You're not half bad." Harvey is a class act.

Q 14

PLAYBOY: Name your candidate for best actor in a crossover to rock and roll.

Jon Bon Jovi: Kevin Bacon takes it seriously and his band is actually very good. They can be taken seriously because they play and sing very well and they work hard on their writing. He's an amazing actor. So I give him all the credit in the world. He is persistent in his music, as I am in acting. It's difficult because everybody knows him as Kevin Bacon, the actor. I took Keanu Reeves to Australia for a few stadium shows, and he played the Forum with us in LA. We don't usually need support acts, but we wanted one there so I threw him the opportunity. I didn't hear him play one note in the half dozen shows he played with us because I'm usually warming up at that time.

Q 15

PLAYBOY: What do aspiring rockers miss if they don't play in bars?

Jon Bon Jovi: They're missing the interaction, the participation and so much sweat. They're missing the idea of being thrown into a stew and having to hold their own against a stronger flavor. You're going to learn your craft in a bar where people aren't there to pay attention to you and you have to earn their respect. Fortunately for me, I was 16 but could pass for 18. When the drinking age went from 18 to 21, it hurt the kids coming up after us. If you're reading this PLAYBOY, you're certainly looking at the pictures. But if you're 16 and you want to get into a rock-and-roll band, you have to write songs. Being in a cover band if you're 16 will give you the education about chord progressions and lyrical content. Don't worry about fads and don't be swayed by this week's fashionable thing on the cover of Rolling Stone. These guys who meet for the first time in the producer's office the day they make it through Mickey Mouse Club auditions, whoa, that's a drag. I loved when we were a rock band and it was tire guys against the world and we shared the same pound of pasta. Those are the great experiences that you have to look back on. Those are the great stories you tell.

Q 16

PLAYBOY: Do you feel that you've finally earned the respect of Southside Johnny, who just last month was playing bars in Asbury Park?

Jon Bon Jovi: I think I have his respect. I have his friendship. John and I have been friends for 20 years. I opened for John a lot. He produced demos of mine when I was still in high school. Instead of going to my prom, I opened for the Jukes. John once went on the road with us as the rhythm guitar player. He recently used my studio when I was away. I wrote him a note last night asking where should I send the check because he said such nice things on Behind the Music.

Q 17

PLAYBOY: Rockers enter rehab. Rappers get indicted. What gives?

Jon Bon Jovi: Compared with rap music, rock is safe. That's just a fact. I don't know enough of the rappers. I don't know if they drink as much as the rock guys. Of all the rock guys I've known through the years, I don't remember any who carried guns around--except for Alec, our former bass player. He always had guns on him, at a time when there was no rap music. So Al was ahead of his time.

Q 18

PLAYBOY: You have a big following in Germany. What vibes do you get when you perform at the Nuremberg Zeppelin Air Field?

Jon Bon Jovi: You look up there and you can still see that great History Channel image of the swastika blowing up. They blew up the swastika but the building is still there. Hitler, for being such a lunatic, was a huge fan of architecture. He knew how important architecture was. We played the 20,000-seat Waldebuhne in Berlin. The acoustics are stellar. All the walls were curved so you couldn't get a shot off at Hitler. So you walk from the dressing area to the stage and you can't see five feet in front of you, because it's all going in circles. You have to know your way around. Gorgeous design and architecture.

Q 19

PLAYBOY: You dated your high school sweetheart, hung out with some starlets and wound up marrying your sweetheart. Is there a lesson there for all of us who've sowed our wild oats?

Jon Bon Jovi: The grass is always greener on the other side, no matter what the profession or girl. My wife and I had broken up for a short period in 1985. I dated Diane Lane for the blink of an eye. I went back to what I knew and what I felt to be safe. I went to her mother's house and stood out on the lawn and told her that I was home from the road and playing at the Meadowlands that night and I wanted her to be there when we got our gold record presentation. She fell for it. It sounds romantic and gushy, but it's true. I'll stand by her. I wouldn't trade her in.

Q 20

PLAYBOY: How does a wealthy rock star raise kids who aren't spoiled brats?

Jon Bon Jovi: My kids are eight and six. They have no idea what I do for a living. My wife is socially conscious; she took them to the Million Mom March and told them what it was. She took them to the food bank and had them clean dishes. None of my music ever plays in the house. Should they come home from school and say, "You're Jon Bon Jovi," I'd say, "Who told you that? If it's your teacher, I'm going to talk to her." My kids' pictures have never been in the newspapers. I have this wonderful thing going with the paparazzi--with the exception of those Italian bastards. My kids have never had their pictures printed publicly and I've never whored them out to that. And they have to do chores to get a quarter.