HOW DO YOU INTEND TO JUGGLE YOUR MUSIC CAREER AND YOUR FILM CAREER?

With success in both the music and film industries, many seem to want Jon Bon Jovi to declare allegiance to one business or the other. However, Jon would like to see himself continue in both fields.

"I DON'T WANT TO QUIT MY DAY JOB"
"The greatest creative thing I do in my life is write a song. More than recording it or performing it. Because a song is something that I created and it will there forever."

"I do like the movie business although it can be a little frustrating. See, in my other job, I'm the frontman. The instigator, if you like. It's me who writes the songs. Whereas in film, I'm just one cog in the machinery. Y'know, I'm a little like the rhythm guitarist, waiting to be told what to do. But it's fun."

"I'm in a fortunate position. I've reached a level success where I can pick and choose what I do next. I feel very privileged. The money's not important nor is the success. All that matters to me is that I tried, I gave it my best shot."

"People might think my movie career is bullshit, that it's not rock 'n' roll. I love rock 'n' roll, it's my first love. If I had to choose between the two, I would choose to make records. But give the guy some room. This is fun. I don't garden. I don't race cars. I don't know how to do anything else"

On acting vs singing: "They're both a collaboration. The big difference is I didn't have to write the script, and when you're the singer and the songwriter and the manager of a band, it's like being the director and the producer and the star of the film. When I'm acting, I just show up and do my job. It's kind of like being a bass player."

"I like acting because I get the opportunity to broaden in the arts, and yet I don't have to worry about writing the material, directing it, marketing it and all of stuff. It's a great way for me not to be the focal point or the quarterback. I'm just one of the players on the team. I'm asked to do my part, and I'm given all the creative freedom I want and none of the pressures. It's a good release."

"I think I can be both [actor and musician] but music is always going to be my first love. Yeah, acting can be my mistress."

"I could do this until I was an old man Everyone who knows me knows that I can't sit at home and garden. I need to write, I need to sing, and now I need to act. And it's not for anything other than that I need to be working. That's just me."

"As long as I live, I'll always be writing songs. The other things I do might come to something or might not, but I'll always be playing the guitar."

"And I don't plan on giving up singing. Acting I like a craft, something you have to study and practice. But when I'm up on that stage, it's as natural as it gets. That's me being me."
"I look to guys like Sinatra. He toured 'til he was 80 and made 50 movies - f**k. That's heavy. I think that in essence that's pretty much what I want to do. He was on, to the best of his ability, at 80 years old, selling out the Meadowlands - it's not like he was in a lounge in Vegas somewhere; the f**ker was doing the Meadowlands, y'know? At 80. cool. And the movies - From Here To Eternity, The Man With The Golden Arm - great stuff. The guy had it, he could sing, tour when he to, played by his rules."

"Music is infinitely more exciting because I create it, it's mine. With a film role, I have to convince a guy who doesn't know me to hire me for the job."

"Everything I've ever done as a whole has been me. I'm not doing the films or any of this shit for acclaim. If you hated every movie I ever made and said it's ruining your credibility as a musician, I'd still make movies. Or if you said, 'Oh, you're gonna be the next Sean Penn if you stop making records', I wouldn't stop making records."

THE MAKING OF A MALE MODEL VERSACE

Jon Bon Jovi has done two photo sessions for VERSACE. The first session, photographed in black & white by Bruce Weber in Argentina in 1995, featured images of Jon performing live interspersed with images of Jon modeling Versace jeans. Richard Avedon photographed Jon's second session for Versace in 1996 in which Jon modeled jeans as well as suits. The photograph featuring a shirtless Jon in Versace jeans was utilized as an advertisement in magazines around the world. Never an intentional career move, Jon's venture into the world of modeling materialized as a favor to his friends, the Versace family.

"We were in Argentina and Bruce Weber wanted to shoot some pictures of the band performing. He saw us live and then said, 'Why don't you come and see what I do?' And I was the only one who wanted to go. He ended up taking my picture in black jeans and a black t-shirt. When I did it a second time with Avedon, the challenge was to do something wild, so he says, 'How wild do you want to get?'" And I say, 'You tell me.' So he says, 'Take off your clothes.' I was in great shape - I know I'm not going to be in shape like that forever, so I did it. But did I get anything out of it other than working with Avedon? No. It wasn't rewarding like writing a song or doing a movie. Did I get paid? No. Did anything else come from it? No. If Donna Karan called tomorrow or Armani, I wouldn't do it, but I did it for Donatella and the Versaces because they are such sweet people."

"They [Versace] said they wanted to do it again, but I challenged the photographer [Avedon] to do something nasty and we did. I had no clothes on, with just a sheet around me. But we stopped those photos from going in all the magazines, 'cause it was a little too weird. Okay, I tried it, but I don't think you're ever gonna see me do anything like that again." "To tell you the truth, it was an accident. We invited Bruce Weber to a show in Argentina and then he invited me to one of his fashion shoots. It was pretty foreign to me, all these guys hanging around doing push-ups all day. It's very weird. I thought if I did it, I'd wanna do something wild, play poker with a dog like Madonna did. Bruce said, 'No. You're black t-shirt and black jeans - have a nice day.' I went, 'Oh, okay.'"

"The second time I did it with Avedon, and I said 'Let's do something really wild.' And actually, we got a little too wild. No one will ever see those pictures. But anyway, it was something I wanted to try, I did it, I'm not making a career out of modeling, it didn't give me great pleasure or a creative, productive feeling, it was just something to try.'

"Y'know, I never thought of myself as good-looking. I always thought I was too short, too fat. But then I see the photographs - by Richard Avedon, who's probably the best fashion photographer in the world and I think, 'Hey, not bad at all."

"all I ever said to anybody is, 'Look, I'm gonna do some things, and some of them might fail.' It was a little weird. I'm not ashamed of the pictures. I got in pretty great shape for them. But I'm not gonna make a career out of modeling. I tried it. I got the free bag. I got the clothes. That's my reward. It was a great experience. Done. Wouldn't wanna make a out of it. It wasn't the smartest career move I ever made, but I'm not embarrassed by it."
"Gianni was the most generous guy you could ever know. That's why I did the modeling for him. Because he didn't ask, you just wanted to do things for him. He was a guy at the top of his game and he was still the nicest guy you could know."

"The world lost a great artist. And I lost a great friend."