Everyone that works under the Coen brothers , in every department - makeup, hair, production design, wardrobe, so on and so forth, grip, lighting, tech, everything - they're the best. So to be on a set when you're working with the very best in the industry was a real privilege.
The role of Charlie Eppes has changed me. I never imagined I would play a role like this. I lost some weight, grew my hair and now every woman in America over 40 wants to date me. It's their daughters I want to convince. The truth is all this talk makes me blush. Me, I look in the mirror and all I see is this Jewish kid from Queens.
My parents went crazy when they found out that I had gotten the part in 'Conversations With My Father!' I'd never given acting a thought. They were proud of me and very encouraging.
I think ever since Numbers ended, I've been trying to find a way to get back in a situation like that. It was lovely to drive in traffic with other people going to their jobs every day.
There is only so much I can understand and not screw up.
Me, I look in the mirror and all I see is this Jewish kid from Queens.
[10 Things I Hate About You] keeps popping up, and it's become a go-to film specifically for adolescent girls who are trying to find their voice, which is a really important thing, and the characters in the film, the two sisters played by Julia Stiles and Larisa Oleynik, they became archetypes for young teenage girls to look up to and emulate.
We essentially spent our college years together [with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg], so those were the kind of lasting friendships and the bond you form during those years, and those friendships last a really long time.
Ghost Team approached me. They said, "Hey, it's mid-October, do you want to go shoot a movie on Long Island for three weeks about stupid people chasing ghosts?" I had never done anything like that before. It's kind of a mock-horror movie. What I didn't realize was the whole thing takes place at night, as a horror movie should, and so I didn't realize that we'd be working until 6 in the morning every night, or morning.
What's great is that because math is such a universal language, really, our fans come in all shapes and sizes, all ages and genders and races and backgrounds and cultures.
So many shows out there dumb-down the country. It's so admirable to be part of a show that wants people to think.
We [me and Seth Rogen] have always wanted to work together. That was the whole point. We talked about it actively, and then we finally got the opportunity to do that, over and over again. It's kind of a dream come true.
It's really cool to know that you've put something together that isn't for a particular audience. It's so often that a TV show can really only speak to one sect of the population, and this really is something that appeals to a worldwide fan base. People who are into the pursuit of knowledge. Their reaction has meant the world to us.
I lost some weight, grew my hair and now every woman in America over 40 wants to date me. It's their daughters I want to convince.
I think we all feel lucky, or at least I feel lucky, to get to be in their [Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg] movies, and I'm not going to lie, I've nudged them.
In this case, I don't know why they [Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg] thought I would be a good lavash wrap or I would do a good Middle Eastern accent. They just assumed I would. They called one day, and they're like, "They're doing this read-through for Sausage Party, and you're going to play a lavash wrap in it." After I looked up what a lavash wrap was, I was like, "Oh, cool."
I tried one [lavash], just because, I was like, "I should know what it is," once I got the part. And it's all right. It's like if a matzo and a flour tortilla had sex and had a baby. It's a dry flour tortilla.
Personally, it's not my thing, and I don't love it. But I have a soft spot for it now. Who knows? Maybe the lavash market will explode after this movie [Sausage Party]. Lavash will become an everyday thing for people.
I was doing a Broadway play, and I was really new to this business. The Broadway play was my first job, literally. The play next door was a musical called Falsettos. The director got hired to direct this Michael J. Fox movie and was looking for a kid who could play brash and salty and mean [in Life With Mikey].
I don't know when we made [10 Things I Hate About You] that we ever thought it would last in popularity as long as it has, but I think that speaks to the strength of the bond of the cast when we were making it. I think you can tell that we adored each other and that we were real friends. To this day, Joe Gordon-Levitt is a good friend, and obviously Heath [Ledger] was a great guy.
I was sent this thing called 10 Things I Hate About You, which I thought was really sweet and female-centric and kind of cute and smart, with a really smart script. So I auditioned for it and got it, and I'm really glad I did, because the movie has a life of its own.
I remember at the time, there were all these teen movies being made. It was this resurgence of John Hughes-esque teen comedies. I was sent a lot of them to audition for, and a lot of them at the time didn't really impress me. I remember I was sent one called East Grand Rapids High, which ended up becoming American Pie, and I didn't like it. Although I think I did audition for it.
It was a frying-pan-to-the-face moment for me where I had to get humble and really cherish it. I was really sad when [Numbers] was over. I'll just say that. Really sad.
After the writers' strike, I came back with my tail between my legs and apologized to everyone. I had been telling them I was going to leave, and I said, "I'm never going to leave," and that I'd stay with them as long as I can. And I really enjoyed the last two and a half seasons of Numbers more than before.
What happened was that none of that [Emmy nomination] really happened. Numbers flew under the radar, and so around the fourth season, I got really jaded and I wanted to quit.
