Sports Hollywood - Ten Questions with Mark Steines

10 Questions with Mark Steines

Steines
Mark Steines joined Entertainment Tonight on August 24, 1995 as a correspondent, a role he continues in addition to his anchor responsibilities. In his capacity as a correspondent, he reports on general entertainment news, conducts celebrity interviews, attends movie premieres and other industry events, and makes on-set visits to feature films and television series.

Steines's awards include a 1994 Emmy® Award and 1994 Golden Mic Award for the KCAL special Beyond Endurance -- Madagascar. Steines was awarded his second Emmy in 1995 for Beyond Endurance -- Borneo.

Steines has appeared in the feature film Nixon, HBO's "Weapons of Mass Distraction," and had a guest-starring role on Dave's World.

Mark was in Long Beach, California, for the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in a 10-lap sprint to raise money for charity. SportsHollywood asked him a few questions.

TEN QUESTIONS

Kelly, Steines, Torres
SportsHollywood: How did you get involved with this?

STEINES: I did this race in 1993... I actually met my wife while I was preparing to do this race! She was helping with the Children's Hospital Telethon.

SportsHollywood: Were you a race fan before becoming involved with this?

STEINES: Yes!

SportsHollywood: Who was your favorite driver?

STEINES: Well, Dale Earnhardt was one I'll miss tremendously. I'm more of a NASCAR fan than I am of Formula One or CART. They're just like country music stars to me. Each one I meet has attitude but they're all great guys.

SportsHollywood: What's the fastest you've ever driven outside of a race?

STEINES: That's a good question. I think on some back farm road in Iowa where I grew up, I probably topped 100mph.

SportsHollywood: What kind of car do you drive every day?

STEINES: A BMW X5.

SportsHollywood: Which is a bigger dream-come-true: Becoming a famous TV personality or being able to drive over 20 mph on a street in Southern California?

STEINES: (Laugh) Driving in this town is so frustrating! It took me two hours to get here last night. It's definitely much more frustrating driving in Southern California than any event I've ever covered.

Steines
SportsHollywood: Are you worried that something you may have said about one the stars may come back to haunt you on the track?

STEINES: That's true, I gotta watch my back with some of these people. Maybe Josh Brolin. I don't think I've said anything bad about him, but maybe somebody he knows. That's six degrees of separation in this town. I've got to check my tires to make sure they are not slit or anything.

SportsHollywood: Are you afraid of Shatner?

STEINES: Yeah, he's got something up his sleeve, there's something about that guy. Here he is close to 70, and he hasn't aged? I don't know, I haven't raced against him yet, today's my first shot, I've got to see what's under the hood.

SportsHollywood: Is driving in this race just a way of showing you're not a wimpy as John Tesh?

STEINES: Yes, but I play his music in the car while I race.

SportsHollywood: It's relaxing?

STEINES: Yes it puts me kind of at ease, relaxed. I tried to wear a dress like Mary Hart, so I could show off my legs, but they're not as nice. They made me stop doing that the first day.

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Interview by Dan Mahin and Jeff Hause

Mark Steines: Entertainment Tonight Mark is in his sixth season on the #1 news magazine in syndication, Entertainment Tonight. The show's weekend anchor, Steines is married to former Miss America Leanza Cornett.

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