Woody Harrelson's Epic Interview: Foursome, Brutalized by Police, Turning Down 'Hunger Games' and Quitting Pot

The 55-year old actor's interview -- timed with the release of "War of the Planet of the Apes" -- includes some wild intel on his experience with foursomes, quitting pot and getting caught up in police brutality.

"My first arrest, the police were really brutal. I was 20 or 21, and I was jaywalking, me and a friend, and this cop flags us over, asks to see our ID. My friend showed his ID, but I said, 'I don't have my ID,' which I did, of course. And he says, 'Have you been out to some of these bars? Then you had to have an ID to get in.' I go, 'Oh, good point.' So I pull it out, and as I pull it out, he goes, "Don't lie to me again, punk!" And then he grabbed me, smashed me against the wall a couple of times."

"I knocked his hands off, pushed him away and started running. And that was the beginning of a real dire episode. He put out an officer-in-distress signal, and soon I'm just surrounded by blue, and they had me down on the ground, knee in my throat. It was so brutal, the way they were handling me. A bunch of students gathered around and were complaining to the cops, and the cops were vicious to them, too. Then they threw me in a paddy wagon, and I'm handcuffed behind my back, and I asked one of the cops, "Why are you treating me like this?" And he slammed my head against the van. They stopped to pick up this other poor bastard peeing on the sidewalk, and when they opened those back doors, I just shot out of there."

"They maced the f*ck out of me. And when they mace you, you're done, that's the end of the story. So yeah, I went to jail, they rough you up a little more, and before it was over, they had six counts against me."

"I turned down Hunger Games twice. I didn't have any idea it would be that big, but I didn't think it was a good part. I was wrong. It was a terrific part, and it was a terrific thing, but thank God [director] Gary Ross called me. And [executive] Alli Shearmur, too. I turned [the Han Solo movie] down twice, too, and the same person, Alli, wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I went to this bar in London, and afterward these girls came up to me, these two girls, and asked me, 'So you want to take a walk on the wild side?' So I said, 'I guess I do.' And then I hopped in the car, and another girl I didn't even know hopped in. We went to my place, and one of the girls was a razzi [paparazzi] or worked for them, worked for the rags. And she got a photographer to come out. That one girl manipulated the other two. I was bummed when they all left together 'cause I knew it was going to happen [an article]. News of the World, it was. I never read it 'cause I didn't want to read it."

"I'm not sure how [his now-wife] Laura found out, but she did. I was kind of hoping she wouldn't see it. I can't remember the details; I've doubtless repressed it. She never saw the thing. But someone told her."

"Laura — this really gives you a sense of the depth of her compassion — what she said to me after finding out was, "That must be really hard for you, to have this shit exposed." She just said that. Now that doesn't mean she wasn't upset. How did I apologize? You know, just your standard Texan grovel. But she forgave me, and we're still together."

"I stopped smoking pot [14 months ago]. I had some weird reaction, which I looked up later, and it was adrenal exhaustion. I still drink, but I try just to drink on weekends. I mostly just drink wine now, but a few years ago I got into cognac for a while — you know, I'd do shots. I'm a happy drunk, but sometimes I drink to the point where I'm not really thinking very clearly. And one of the bad things about celebrity — there's a lot of positives, but one of the bad things is everybody wants to have a shot with you. It's dangerous to go into a regular bar because I can end up doing a lot of shots, depending on the charity of the [other people]."