David Hasselhoff on “Slow Motion Running”, his Scrawny Legs and Why he Got Naked with Puppies

The infamous David Hasselhoff sat down with the editors of MensHealth.com this month for a web-exclusive interview.  Among other things, Hasselhoff discussed how he kicked down the Berlin Wall (sort of), how he’s bigger than Jesus, and yes, oh yes, how the Germans still love him. You can read the full interview here.

On being in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most watched person on television: That was in 1993 and last year they called me and said,” Would you come and do some more publicity?”  Apparently no one’s broken the record since.  I had people from Pakistan and Nepal tell me that “Baywatch” was like “Slumdog Millionaire.”  Entire villages would gather around one television and watch it together.  I was at the Caribou Club in Aspen once, and the Shah of Iran’s wife was there.  People were telling me,” the Shah of Iran’s wife wants your autograph.”  And I was like, “Yeah, right.  Send her over then.”  And then she comes over to my table and says to me,” They sell tickets to your show in my country.”

Why he thinks people love Baywatch so much: I think it’s about people wanting to be free and looking at America as the big lifeguard. That’s why” Baywatch” was popular…or it’s the tits.

How Baywatch’s slow-motion running came about: That came about organically because we had no money.  We didn’t have enough financing to finish the show.  So we found a way to fill the hour by shooting people in slow motion.  We said,” Well, girls in bathing suits look good running in slow motion, let’s just shoot that.”  And we found out that the audience kinda liked it.  

Is there any part of his body Hasselhoff is self-conscious about: I’ve never been happy about my legs.  They’re too scrawny and boney.  When I got cast in” Baywatch,” the last thing I wanted to do was run around in a bathing suit.  I was pretty happy with wearing jeans and a leather jacket on” Knight Rider.”  But I got over that quick.  After the first paycheck, I said,” Bring on the shorts! Who cares?”

About his nickname, “The Hoff”: The whole Hoff thing wasn’t even my idea.  It’s something that started nine years ago by some secretaries in Australia…I got an email from one of these women, asking me, “How does it feel to be a sex symbol at 50?” Apparently there was a viral epidemic of emails going back and forth between secretaries in Australia. They were sharing all of these Hoffisms. You know, stuff like “Desperate Hoffwives” and “Some Like it Hoff” and “The Hoffice” and “Take It Hoff.” Every play on words you could imagine. I thought, well that’s kind of funny. So I went on television in Australia and I was talking about the whole phenomenon and I said, like I was talking to the secretaries, “I have a saying for you. Don’t hassle the Hoff!” And that’s when it all blew up and went crazy.

Hasselhoff on the famous photo of him naked and covered in strategically placed puppies: I’ll tell you what that was.  Many of your readers probably don’t remember, but” Cosmopolitan,” which was the number one fashion magazine during the‘70s and‘80s, did a male centerfold.  The first person who posed was Burt Reynolds in the early‘70s.  He was lying naked on a bear rug, smoking a cigar.  And then they did nude portraits of Arnold Schwarzenegger and (football player) Jim Brown.  I did it in 1990.  Back in those days it was a big deal to be in that magazine.  Now that photo’s on t-shirts and I see it everywhere I go.

On Mel Brooks and working with him on “The Producers” in Las Vegas: I have a great Mel Brooks story.  We were doing” The Producers” in Las Vegas.  He loved me in the role of Roger De Bris.  I was so scared of him, because I was like,” This is Mel Brooks! He’s a legend!”  But we became friends.  We used to hang out in my dressing room.  I remember before the show opened in Vegas, we did a press conference and Mel went off on “Cirque du Soleil.”  He was like,” This town needs a show with a story!  ‘Cirque du Soleil is great,’ but there’s no story.  There’s a mime, and he comes out, and then there’s some music, and then there’s another mime!”  I was dying laughing, because he’s right, there is no story.  It’s just mimes!

On singing on New Year’s Eve on the Berlin Wall: It was amazing.  It was freezing, but I was so emotional I didn’t even notice.  I think I took a few swigs of schnapps at one point.  I was singing” Looking for Freedom” to a million people.  And they were all singing along in English.  It was like Woodstock.

On getting recognition for bringing the Berlin Wall down: I know I didn’t have anything to do with the Wall coming down.  I just happened to be there at the right time.  But I honored those people.  Before the Wall came down, I went to East Berlin and met some children who said they would never get out.  Their grandparents would maybe get out, but they wouldn’t.  So I took a picture with them and I said,” Meet me here at 12 o’clock tomorrow.”  I put them on the cover of a newspaper in West Berlin.  I brought them the newspaper, and they started crying.  I said,” Here’s a little piece of freedom.”  They were actually on the cover of the West Berlin newspaper.

How he’d like to influence the world: In general I’d like to have a more positive influence on the world.  I do a lot of work with the Wounded Warriors, and guys will come back from Iraq with lost legs and tell me,” You don’t have any idea how famous you are over there.”  They tell me that if I just walked down the streets of Iraq and Iran and Afghanistan, everybody would know who I was.  I think about that sometimes.  I want to do whatever I can to help the situation over there.

On wanting to make more episodes of Knight Rider: I’m trying, I’m trying! I want to do a Knight Rider movie. It’d be Michael Knight and his son. It’d be like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and it would work perfectly. It would be hysterical. We’d bring back KITT and KITT would say, “Where’ve you been, Michael?” And I’d be like, “Well, all the cars talk now.” I’m always being asked when I’m going to do Knight Rider again. I went to Zimbabwe and they were like, “Michael Knight, why you look so old?” Because the show is from 1982! “Where is your curly hair?” It’s gone, I’m on vacation, leave me alone. All over the world it’s like that.

Hasselhoff on the updated Knight Rider series that NBC did in 2008: That was my idea! I pitched it to them! It was basically my treatment. I brought it to them, and they were like, “We want to develop it. That’s the good news.” And I said, “What’s the bad news?” “You’re not going to be in it.” I said, “Oh. That’s not what I had in mind.” But that’s show business. You just have to roll with the punches. I said, “Good luck.” And then it got cancelled a year later.

Why he thinks the updated Knight Rider series failed: It had no heart. And there was no humor. And there was no action. The action needed to be progressive and cool and hip. People loved Knight Rider — the original Knight Rider—not because the car could fly but because Michael and KITT were great characters. KITT was the perfect authoritative parent with a sense of humor. And Michael was a cool guy who believed in saving lives and not taking lives. It was about how one man can make a difference. (Pause.) Also, the new Knight Rider didn’t have me in it. (Laughs.) That’s a joke. (Pause.) Kind of.

Hasselhoff on a crab being named after him this year: They called it the“Hoff Crab.”  I think it’s quite an honor to be named for a crab.  As you know, one crab dies and ten thousand crabs come to their funeral.  I’m in very loyal company…When I finally saw a picture of it, I laughed pretty hard.  It’s white and it’s got a hairy chest.  I remember thinking, this Hoff thing is getting out of control.

About his crazy fans: One day you’ll meet a girl with a David Hasselhoff tattoo on her arm.  And the next it’s a guy wearing underwear with a picture of the Hoff right on the front of his you-know-what.  Yes, his crotch.  I’ve seen babies at the grocery store with t-shirts that say” The Man, The Myth, The Hoff.”  It’s just everywhere.  I love it, but right now I’m trying to get back to work as David Hasselhoff, the actor, not the icon.  That’s where the thrust of my intentions are right now.

Does he think people identify with him? I really do.  They can see themselves in me.  They see a guy who just doesn’t give up, who’s taken his knocks and keeps coming back for more.  It’s not how hard you get knocked down, it’s how fast you get back up.  And then you get up and it’s like,” Okay, I shouldn’t have done that.”  And then you move forward.  That’s where I’m at in life.  I can take what God delivers, the good and the bad, and I learn from it all.  I just keep moving forward.