James Woods is an interviewer’s best friend. When I spoke to Woods recently for today’s Daily News story on “Shark� (link to come), I could’ve essentially turned on my tape recorder, left Woods’ trailer and returned later to find he had filled my tape with bon mots.

(UPDATE: One of the privileges of holding such a high position of power such as Mayor is that you can place so many lackeys between you and those who report to you that you virtually create a buffer zone preventing you from hearing what's actually going on in the world. And so it goes here, as I was told "Shark" would appear in the Oct. 18 Daily News. Instead, the paper ran a cover story on a movie which over this past weekend lured a mere 260 or so ticket-buyers to each of the 179 theaters at which it played rather than "Shark," which averages 14 million viewers a week.

Ah, well. Perhaps this will make you hungry to read more whenever the story runs.)

Here’re a few of his comments that didn’t make it into the story:

On gossip around another popular show:

“A very high source told me on a show involving some very high-profile women that literally they had to stop shooting one day because one of the trailers was 18 inches closer to the set than someone else’s trailer, and that once a day they have to alternate whose trailer is closest to the set.�

On his description at imdb.com, which reads: “Leanly built, strangely handsome, with intense eyes and a sometimes untrustworthy grin.�

“That’s really nicely put. I really love that. Whoever wrote that’s a f@&^in’ poet. Robert Frost wrote my description at imdb.com – I like the whole concept. That’s a very accurate description, as a persona – it has nothing to do with me as a person. But as an onscreen persona, I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description. What kind of handsome am I?�

“Strangely handsome.�

“I guess.� To his dog, Angel: “You’re strangely handsome and your face is covered with hair.�

Abandoning film for TV:

“I look at movies and they’re all so f@&^ing terrible. People ask, ‘Why aren’t movies more successful?’ It’s really a simple answer: It’s because they stink. Three simple words: Because they f@&^ing stink. That’s four words, but you can’t write the f@&^ing word. They stink, they stink, they stink, what’s wrong with you? They stink. Do better movies. … Finally, I saw a good movie – ‘The Departed.� And look what it took: It took Marty Scorsese, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, (screenwriter) Bill Monahan – and it’s based on another movie.�

On the support he has received since the recent death of his brother, Michael:

“You cannot explain it to anyone else; there’s just no way to explain it. But yet – people are so deeply lovely in their support. The other day I got flowers from Virginia Madsen, with a note that said, ‘I’m glad you and your brother got to take that last trip.’ What a great thing, how considerate – I know Virginia just very casually, the way people in the business know each other. And her show (“Smith�) just got cancelled, so in her troubles, she’s sending me flowers – how nice is she? It’s a perfect example of how lovely people have been.�

On his show’s success:

“I like to use the metaphor of my buddy Dan Tana. At his (restaurant’s) 40th anniversary, somebody asked me, ‘Why do you think his restaurant’s successful?’ I said, ‘It’s really very simple. He serves good food and it’s a comfortable place to stick your ass while you’re eating it.’ It’s not rocket science. You know these places: You go in and there’s some froufrou guy has fixed everything and they spent five million dollars on the f@&^ing chandeliers and you’re eating some crap on a plate with a bunch of swirly crap on it. If they give you steak, French fries and a f@&^in’ booth, they’ll be in business for a hundred years. You think some guy wants to sit perched on a little wooden chair eating a sliver of somebody’s liver?�

And, honestly, that last quote did in fact comment on his show: How it’s a meat-and-potatoes program that makes the viewer feel comfortable. See?