The writer said that, unlike other writers, he has never once wanted to be an actor. "Unlike my good friends Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, I just don't think I have the ability to get up at the front of the stage," Simon said. "I'm much more introverted. I like the anonymity of being a writer, to be in the back of the house in the dark watching, because if it's no good you can always run out. The actors have to stay there. My heart goes out to any actor on opening night when that curtain goes up. I just don't know how they can do it."
