Among his talking points: the beleaguered state of civics education and filmmaking today - most roles in new films are "stupid," he believes - studying at Oxford, directing John Gielgud and auditioning for Jack Nicholson's 1971 drama "Drive, He Said." He has a story about that one. "I had gone out for one of the parts in 'Drive' and didn't get it, and I was all grumpy," said the 65-year-old Dreyfuss, who appeared trim and sprightly during a recent breakfast at a Brentwood hotel. Then I went to see it. I see my character strip naked, go into a lab and take out scorpions, spiders and snakes and let them free. And then he runs full naked toward the camera. Dreyfuss' blue eyes twinkled. I said, I am so happy I didn't do it. Of course, Dreyfuss went on to do many other movies, many of them legendary, including "American Graffiti," in 1973, "Jaws" in 1975, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in 1977, "The Goodbye Girl" also in 1977 - which won him a lead actor Oscar - and 1995's "Mr. Holland's Opus," which earned him a second Oscar nomination. He's been busy with his educational civic activities lately, so acting has been on idle for a while. But he's back onscreen with the new techno-thriller, "Paranoia," which opened Friday to poor reviews and even worse box office. He plays the father of lead actor Liam Hemsworth. Hemsworth found Dreyfuss to be "one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He would come into the makeup trailer in the morning and he would just start talking to me about a certain topic, usually something I had no idea about. He would talk nonstop - he wouldn't even take a break. "Paranoia" director Robert Luketic said he and others in the cast would relax and listen to Dreyfuss expound on his past. "It was lovely to sit around and hear him talk about his wild days, his good days, his bad days, the directors he worked with, the people he's loved," Luketic said. Dreyfuss' role in "Paranoia" is small, but he turns it into something more memorable with his trademark cockiness, humor and warmth - he's flirtatious around his nurse, loves to crack jokes and has a genuine concern for his son. "He would kind of improv stuff," said Hemsworth, who, at 23, knew Dreyfuss primarily from "Jaws." He would talk about the scenes beforehand and give me notes. It was never intrusive. He would always surprise me, like at the end of the movie when he puts his head on my shoulder. It is one of the most touching scenes in the movie. He's one of the most in-the-moment, instinctive actors I have worked with. It was nearly a decade ago that Dreyfuss "retired" from film acting to pursue his first love - theater. I am a very nice and good and decent and selfish person - I am an actor. I did it for 45 years, and anyone who does anything for 45 years has a right to stop. But the theater sort of bit back. Dreyfuss was fired that year from the London production of "The Producers." "I had a lot of issues," he said. I said, I don't know how to sing or dance and they said, we don't care. They cared. So he stayed in London. I trolled for work. I lectured. I wrote articles in the Sunday Times," said Dreyfuss, who now lives in San Diego with his third wife. And he became a senior advisory researcher at Oxford for four years. I attended classes and I started writing speeches. I would fly back and forth [from Britain to the United States] and give speeches. I have spoken to some 175,000 people all over the country. The speeches are in support of his nonprofit Dreyfuss Initiative, which he founded in 2006 to promote the teaching of civics in American schools.