I can't believe George Bush might be president.
Richard Schiff is a really good baseball player. It's surprising because he looks exhausted.
We're telling a story. And the demands of that are different from the demands of a documentary. The audience must believe in order to keep faith in the story.
I am an old, old friend of Aaron Sorkin's, who is the executive producer and writer. He had been talking about doing a political show for a long time and I had been interested in it for a long time. The moment I became available, he called me last year and asked me if I wanted to do it and then I just had to audition for the powers that be, and I got it.
Cal Ripken is steady, he focuses on his job, and he's a good guy.
One of the most surreal moments in this election was after the third debate, when I heard a talking head say, Al Gore won on substance, on the issues. But you have to give the victory to Bush because he seems presidential.
I used to defend the West Wing show from the charge of sentimentality or wish-fulfilment, because I think if you do go into the Barack Obama White House you will find six or seven people around him who are true believers. We make these people climb this filthy rope and then we stand at the bottom and say, "Hey, your hands are dirty!" To show heroic, progressive, democratic politics at work was more than I ever expected.
I did not always agree, personally, on the positions that Bartlet, character from the West Wing, took and I argued against them on many occasions. But Aaron Sorkin said, "Martin, that's you, that's not Barlet. It's a very political decision he has to make." I found from the very beginning that when I infused my own personal feelings about an issue it went against the grain of the character.
John Wells let me write a couple of West Wings, which was an incredible gift. I loved it once I got past the brain injury part of it, and so I'm working on a couple of things that are far from fruition, but what I want to pursue
As an actor you always feel like you're swimming upstream.
Early on in my career I got a part in Revenge Of The Nerds II: Nerds In Paradise. If I hadn't done that I wouldn't have met Tim Busfield and if I hadn't met Tim Busfield, I wouldn't have met Aaron Sorkin. So Nerds II took me straight to the White House!
I want to see Bob Dylan do sketch comedy. I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan.
In the right situation, acting on television can be extraordinarily satisfying creatively. But that's incredibly rare. Otherwise, it can be like working in a really remunerative coal mine. That's the down side.
This election ain't no stinkin' TV show.
With the success of a show, you get an opportunity to call attention to things that you believe in.
Having an affair with an intern is just an incredibly stupid thing to do.
My joke about Aaron Sorkin is that The West Wing was a great show about democracy, run by Kim Jong-Il!
