Director Oliver Stone has told University of Connecticut graduates of the academic failures that led him to drop out of school - before he launched his successful film career.
He told graduates he flunked out of Yale, where former President George W. Bush was a classmate. After joining the Army and serving in the Vietnam War, he says a filmmaker friend suggested he go to film school. He did, earning a degree from New York University.
Since then Stone has produced scores of Oscar-winning movies, including 'Platoon' and 'JFK'. Watch the speech, above.
He encouraged graduates to not be too down on themselves if things don't go their way early on, Associated Press reported.
Stone gave the graduate school commencement address on Saturday at UConn's main campus in Storrs, Connecticut and also received an honorary doctorate.