Hollywood legend Steve Guttenberg is gearing up to star in Cinderella at Bromley's Churchill. He chats to Mark Hill about his career, making his panto debut and baring all on the internet

Oh, how we loved the 80s. On TV Bobby Ewing returned in the shower and Alexis Colby survived the Moldavian Massacre, SodaStreams and Rubiks Cubes were among the must have Christmas presents, Shake 'n' Vac was helping us put the freshness back and a young actor called Steve Guttenberg was one of the most bankable stars in Tinseltown.

Hollywood heavyweight Steve, 50, starred in the first four Police Academy films, Three Men And A Baby, Cocoon and Short Circuit to name just a few of his hit movies – his films collectively grossing over $1 billion.

Now he's about to tread the boards as Baron Hard-Up in another seasonal extravaganza from Bromley's Churchill.

"I'm having a great time preparing for it and it's just lovely; I know it's going to be a great, great time and all I hear is good stuff. I can't wait to get out there!" Steve says keenly.

And is there anything like panto in the States?

"Well, we have burlesque and at Radio City Music Hall there's a great Christmas show, which is sort of like this.

"But I've never appeared in anything like this at all and this is going to be just fresh and new and I'm really looking forward to it."

I ask Steve, who stars at the Churchill opposite top comedienne Helen Lederer (Absolutely Fabulous), Laura Hamilton (Nickelodeon) and Mark Evans (Troy from High School Musical at the Hammersmith Apollo) among other seasoned panto professionals, if he has a preference between film and stage work.

"I love acting. Acting is so much fun – it's the only time I am really free. Between 'action' and 'cut', or the opening curtain and the closing curtain, it's wonderful.

"I like both stage and film work because even on a set, you still have a live audience: the director and the crew and the cameraman and there's all these human beings around to inspire you and pump you up a little bit!"

Brooklyn-born Steve is one of a growing number of Hollywood stars coming over here to do panto; last year the Churchill brought Starsky And Hutch star Paul Michael Glaser over to play Captain Hook in Peter Pan.

"I think it's just to do stage work.

"I think that we look at it as another musical or another play. It's like being a carpenter – you're either going to build a mansion or you're going to build a barn, but you still use a ruler and a saw and a hammer and a nail. It's all very similar."

After starring in dozens of movies, he says he can't pick one overall favourite.

"My favourite one is always the next film."

But on people he's most enjoyed working with in his illustrious career, he cites one of our classic actors.

"I would say Laurence Olivier was one of my favourites to work with - just one of the nicest men around, a superstar and he taught me a great deal of humility. I worked with him in 1976 on a movie called The Boys From Brazil."

Steve starred in the first four of the hugely successful Police Academy films as flirty Carey Mahoney. So why didn't he continue with the much-loved series?

"I just had a lot of other opportunities and the story, for me, was done and they just wouldn't pay me enough on part five," he bursts into laughter. "Let me cut that answer down: they wouldn't pay me enough for part five! The rest of that is rubbish!"

They evidently couldn't afford to keep the star for the remainder of the films, but why does he think they became so popular?

"You know, movies, stage plays, books, albums, records, paintings are magic – they really are. They come from deep inside someone's soul, so sometimes you can do a movie that costs so much money and no one wants to go see it, and then you can do a movie that doesn't cost so much money and everybody wants to see it. It's just magic and craft and skill."

Steve recently made showbiz headlines throughout the world with speculation on whether or not he was the 'pantless jogger', filmed running through a park without underwear or shorts, in a video released on YouTube, or whether it was actually just a doppelganger for the star.

"The pantless jogger! What on earth are you talking about?

"Are you talking about the 24th most viewed video in the entire world? Are you talking about the video that had over 600,000 hits within a week? Is that what you're talking about?

"Well, we did it as a joke which was supposed to go on this site called Funny Or Die, which is a Will Ferrell [the actor] site, and we decided to release it virally in sort of a Blair Witch Project/Borat sort of style where you don't know if it's a fake. It just worked fabulously and everybody thought it was real!"

Earlier this year Steve starred in the American version of our Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing With The Stars, where he was voted off in the third week. Disappointed not to get further in the glitzy dance competition?

"No, no. I loved it because it was a lot of fun and I got to meet some wonderful people and got to dance a little bit, so I had a great time."

Ardent philanthropist Steve talks a bit about two of the many worthy causes he supports to help less fortunate people – particularly youngsters.

"You pray for opportunities, so Sight For Students was an opportunity for me to help people who can't afford glasses to get glasses and it's helped over 50,000 students already to get glasses.

"Guttenhouse [an apartment complex in LA] was a way for me to inspire and help foster children who, when they're emancipated, 60 per cent of them go on the street and don't have anywhere to go, so Guttenhouse gives a place for them to live."

So what does London mean to the film legend who resides in New York?

"I love London – one of the greatest cities in the world!

"Just the architecture, the people, I love the weather here and the history and the brains - English people are some of the most highly educated people in the world - I really feel that way."

Steve tells The Guide he visits the UK "once in a while" but has quite an epic list of things he excitedly plans to see in London and the UK outside of his hectic 12 shows a week schedule in Bromley.

"Oh man, I want to go to the British Museum, see a bunch of plays – I know that Rowan Atkinson is in Oliver!, I want to see that. I want to go up Regent Street and Oxford Street, I want to see Harrods decorated for Christmas and I want to go to the country and I'd like to go up to Stratford and Bath – lots!"

He will spend Christmas in London surrounded by his family.

"My parents, my sisters, my nieces and nephews, my brothers-in-law, will all be coming over for Christmas."

And once panto season is over, what are Steve's plans for the future?

"My plans for the future would be to take Russell Brand's job over at the radio station, and to replace Jonathan Ross for three months! That would be fun!"

Steve Guttenberg is in The Churchill's pantomime, Cinderella, at Bromley from December 5 until January 18.

Tickets from £18, call 0870 060 6620.