David Hasselhoff — nickname: The Hoff — is in London this week filming a software commercial. As he takes a break, he orders up six Red Bulls and talks about his resurgence of fame.

"This 'Hoff' stuff has gone crazy around the world, and now it's leading to commericals and endorsements,"

he says.


On top of the ads, he has a new TV show (America's Got Talent) and movie (Click), and he says he's planning the 'David Hasselhoff Musical'.

"I've already arranged and written it with the guys who did Chicago,"

he says.


USA TODAY hassles The Hoff with five questions:


Q: What do you like best, singing, acting or America's Got Talent judging?


A: "I love musical theater. That's what I started off to do when I was 7 and my first show was Peter Pan. I loved doing Jekyll & Hyde (a 2001 musical) I loved Billy Flynn (on stage) in London. I love the audience. I love the live show. I love the fun of a live show."


Q: You poked fun at yourself in recent moviesDodgeball and SpongeBob. Why do you do it, and how has it affected your career?


A: "Adam (Sandler) called me and said he has a role for me in Click, and I said, 'As long as it's not David Hasselhoff! I'm not playing him anymore. I played him twice.' Now I have 5-year-old kids following me around saying, 'Are you DavidHasselhoff?' like it's one name."


Q: Which country has the best David Hasselhoff fans?


A: "Right now, if you Google my name, you'll find there are 3,500,000 references (at least). I did a Google convention recently in Berlin and talked to the Google guys and said, 'Where is this coming from?' I said, 'What's the No. 1 country?' I thought it was Germany. It's Ireland — go figure. Germany was No. 3."

Follow up:

Q: Does Taylor Hicks' music always make you cry?


A: "That was a bizarre evening at American Idol. It's funny. I find the whole thing kind of bizarre that so many people picked up on that publicly and said, 'Oh, what a sensitive guy.' Heterosexual man cries! Film at 11! Maybe if we had more emotion in the White House, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in.


"The true story is, it was my best friend's birthday. He was sitting next to me. He happens to have brain cancer. He was supposed to have two to six months to live. It was nine months to the day. It was a very difficult time for him. And a very difficult year for me, with my divorce, my mother being sick and my best friend near death. Taylor Hicks wins, and my friend turns to me and says, 'Isn't it great to be alive?' and bam! That's the clip."


Q: What is your overall philosophy of life?


A: "Persistence. Not giving up. Just keep working for it, visualizing it and believing it. Spirituality — prayer — is a big part of my life. Respect for myself and for other people. Treat people the way you want to be treated. The most amazing thing out of this whole situation the last year is I've had a lot of respect from the industry.


"All the garbage written in magazines and newspapers was untrue, and nobody gave a damn. It was a wonderful thing to see how many phone calls I got saying, 'Hang in there. You'll be back.' "


Soucre: USA Today