It's hard to describe to people how terrible it was when you could only watch cartoons at a certain time in your life.
The pre-shoot days are so relaxed and fun and the writers are laughing. I love the rehearsal process.
An agent said he didn't know what to do with me, I wouldn't be able to play any parts but lesbians and aliens.
I got offered that role in Transamerica that Felicity Huffman did. That was a part that I was like, "Well, maybe I should've done that." I'm at peace with it, but that is one thing that I did turn down that went on to do great things for her. I wonder what would've happened if I would've done that.
I have the power of my height. Growing up, it was a total drawback. There was nothing good about it at all.
I guess my height has hurt me as much as it's helped me. In comedy people don't mind casting tall women next to shorter men. It adds to the humour.
I think it was a subject matter that The Social Network didn't involve a lot of women. That's all I think it is.
I'm kind of at the mercy of writers out there. I need a writer out there who wants to write a vehicle for me. Do it and get it to me immediately. I do want to be a lead. I want to play a lead role in a movie.
I never watched Lost. I just thought it would be fun to be part of something that was such a big part of pop culture. But I thought I was going to be acting with more of the other people. I didn't know that I was going to be on my own on the island, doing this whole other storyline.
There was a courtroom scene where my son is convicted of killing Kevin Spacey's character. I find the bloody T-shirt and realize my husband did it. I get up the courage to take the shirt and send it to the police as evidence. I go out of the house for the first time. There was all this stuff I had to do that became quite truncated, because they slimmed down the movie. I understand the American Beauty is brilliant without all that stuff, but for me, personally, it was hard to see all that go.
It was great to have a Republican character as likeable as Alan Alda was in the West Wing. He was one Republican I would probably vote for; he was old school.
With John Wayne Gacy - the serial killer who dressed up as a clown - there's just something about clowns I don't trust. I don't think they're particularly funny. They're a little spooky. Not my sense of humor, I don't laugh at clowns.
I just wish that I had a part in everything Aaron Sorkin wrote. Sometimes I wish I was a member of an acting troupe where we all just kept working together, the same people. I can't, unfortunately, be in everything he writes. I'm excited for him, but I'm jealous that I wasn't a part of it.
Aaron Sorkin uses a lot of the same people again and again - the people he likes. I think if there's ever a part for me, he would consider me for it. I hope so. Sometimes familiarity breeds contempt, other times it helps you. It's just amazing to work with his scripts. There's never any fat in them. It's all perfect, and there's such a rhythm to it. The musicality of his writing - it's so specific and unique to him, and such a joy to play as an actor, because there's no sentimentality.
Annette Bening should've won Oscar for American Beauty. I mean, I know Hilary Swank was there, she was so great too... Annette deserves one. She better win. I'm an Academy voter, and I voted for her.
The wonderful thing about Crystal in Mr. Sunshine is that she doesn't have any boundaries. She's not aware socially of what's correct and incorrect. Crystal's probably the craziest character I've ever had to do and the furthest I've gone, with the only exception being Away We Go - I was pretty big in that.
I can tell when men are threatened by my height.
I grew up with brothers. I love men. Of course it's hard to be a woman in a man's world.
I'd like to make really important movies, like American Beauty. I was really proud to be a part of that movie.
Great drama is all about conflict, and what's a better conflict than Republican-Democrat?
Comedy is a serious business. It's frustrating when I can't find the right thing that makes the crew laugh. If I don't make them laugh, I get very disappointed in myself. You don't really have a live audience, so you just depend on the crew to let you know if you're doing something funny.
It's a little weird accepting your voice coming out of an animated character. You don't buy it at first because it's your voice and none of us like our voices when we hear them recorded back.
I can't imagine trying to be in recovery. I mean it would be hard enough with just life going along in a nice way, but then when awful stuff happens, how you maintain the strength to get through it?
The live aspect is so thrilling, I get nervous again. It's like going on stage.
