Motor Talk with Matthew Modine

Matthew Modine, who stars as a real estate developer on season three of the Showtime series “Weeds,” plays the kind of man he may very well despise in real life. Modine is more of a carbon-conscious type who wouldn’t mind getting his hands on a Tesla Roadster (which he thinks should be the new NASCAR vehicle, by the way).

We did get him to admit to missing the bench-style front seats in old eco-unfriendly 1960s cars — but more for fueling passion than environmental awareness.

ForbesAutos: What cars do you own?
Modine: I don’t own a car. My wife owns a Toyota Prius; 2006. It’s her second Prius. It’s a wonderful car and remarkably roomy inside.

What might you buy next?
I won’t ever buy a car again. Period. If I need a car, I’ll rent. When you add up all the crap — insurance, parking garages, maintenance, idiots dinging your door in parking lots, depreciation — it makes no sense. But I live in New York City. If you live in a car culture, which 90 percent of our country does, it might make sense to buy.

Do you have a dream car?
There is a new car, the Tesla Roadster. It’s a fully electric car that goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4 seconds. It goes something like 250 miles on a charge and it is insanely fast. It's a two-seater sports car that you can drive without carbon guilt — that is, if you don’t think about the coal or nuclear power plants producing electricity. That's what NASCAR should be racing. It’s faster than a Ferrari and cheaper than one. It’s better than a Ferrari because it’s American and as an American I’m happy about that. We should have electric cars going around the track and make it sexy.

What was your first car ever?
A white 1964 Volkswagen Beetle. Sweet! Those early ‘60s Volkswagens really were the car for every citizen. The Germans' idea that everyone could work on and maintain it made it a real people car. You could repair anything on the car and the parts were universal. You can’t work on a car now. It’s all computer technology.

Besides hybrids, what do you like?
I really like the Audi TT. They made a roadster with a Rawlings baseball glove interior that was fantastic — stitching just like a baseball glove. Guys like stuff that smells like a baseball mitt.

What cars do you prefer to rent?
Prius. If I could rent one of the above-mentioned Audi TTs, I would.

Do you have any say in what your film and TV characters drive?
I made a film this spring, “The Neighbor,” and I asked if I could drive a Prius. The production company agreed because they thought it showed my character to be practical and concerned about the world we share. That’s nice.

What would you like to see in a car that you have yet to see?
Better gas mileage. If the speed limit is 65 mph, why do we make cars with so much horsepower? What’s the point? And if we agree that cars are contributing to global warming, why do we have Hummers and Cadillac Escalades? Are we frigging stupid? How can stock car racing and drag racing even be legal? If you know that burning gasoline contributes to global warming, then all those motor sports should be banned — period. Sorry. Not doing it is as stupid as people learning that they have lung cancer and continuing to smoke. And the people that blame their addiction — oil or tobacco — on a company that sells oil or cigarettes are lame. Take responsibility. You do have a choice. Have will power. Stop blaming others for the problems that surround us. Do something to change the situation.

Speaking of Hummers and Escalades, the actor Mark Wahlberg told me his dream car would be an electric Escalade. What do you think about that?
I think what Mark is trying to say is he would like to have a big comfortable car that doesn’t make you feel guilty when you drive it. That’s why the Prius is so successful. With Fords, the hybrid looks like their regular cars and the only way you can tell the difference is that it says "hybrid" on the back of the car. The thing about the Prius is that it’s obviously a hybrid.. That’s why I chose it for that film, to show it as a person who is conscious and cares. A Prius is a statement that says what kind of person he is, whether you like him or not.

What car fits your personality?
This is a contradiction, but you ask what fits my personality, not what I would go out and buy: Aston Martin Vanquish S. The ultimate Aston Martin, it’s the fastest road car in the history of Aston Martin — a car that fuses handcrafted tradition with the highest caliber of automotive technology.

Do you carpool?
When I work. I don’t commute. If I did commute, I would carpool.

You are a Prius guy, but why not choose the Honda Civic Hybrid, the Lexus hybrids or any of the other hybrids?
I like the Prius. The Lexus doesn’t get great mileage. It’s a nice car, as is the Civic. But the Prius is roomier and well built. Solid. It doesn’t feel like a compact car.

What alternative fuels would you consider?
Hydrogen. Not sure that biofuels are the answer — too much energy expended to create the biofuel. And with so many people starving in the world, do we really want to grow crops so somebody can drive a gas-guzzling truck? I don’t think so. Hydrogen may present its own problems. Imagine a humid day in August. You’re walking down a busy New York City street and 30,000 cars fight for position on the busy avenues and side streets. Each of the cars is spewing water vapor…and what will all that water do to the icy streets in the winter?

How often do you drive your rental car?
Right now I am working in Los Angeles, so I have to drive. I’m renting a brand new green Prius.

What do you think automakers could do better on the next generation of vehicles?
Make them more fuel efficient. They can do it. They have the technology. Again, if the speed limit is going to be 55 or 65 mph, why make a 250 hp vehicle?

What do you miss from older vehicles and what would you like to see reemerge?
Older cars were just sexier, voluptuous. I think a big back seat, or a front bench-style seat that folds down into the backseat, creating a big bed is a good idea — for the obvious reasons.

What do you think about current fuel prices?
I don’t think fuel prices are high enough. I wasn’t old enough to be driving, but I was around during the gas crises in 1973. The Arab oil-producing countries put an embargo on the USA because of our military support toward Israel. I wish the Arab oil-producing countries would do it again. What a peaceful way to force America to get off its ass and change our gas-guzzling lifestyles. If we get to the point where it’s cheaper to invest in alternatives to oil we, and the whole world, will be better off. Necessity is the mother of invention. Let’s get to the point where we can tell all the oil-producing countries, “Thanks, but no thanks. Go drink your fossil fuels.” That’s the America I love, the America that searches for solutions; the country that boldly seeks a better way and independently solves its problems; an America that invests in its future. That is what our country is desperately missing. Let’s be the country that solves problems and shares our understanding.