Growing up, I always had two interests and two passions; one being public service and the other being the arts and acting.
The thing that I enjoy about being an actor and the thing that I enjoy about the arts in general is the ability to make the audience feel an emotion that they weren't intending to feel before they went in.
The point of serving your country is not to do your own thing or to go rogue, but to work as part of the process.
I have a huge political problem with the role. It was essentially accepting a form of racial profiling. I think it's repulsive. But it was the first time I had a chance to blow stuff up and take a family hostage.
I was a vegetarian when we shot the first film(Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle), and I generally eat organic as much as possible. I know this is so disappointing to the audience, which is why I don't talk about it a lot, but I don't smoke weed, I don't eat fast food.
To the folks walking around the District of Columbia, I would say this: Be careful.
What I love about L.A. and Washington, D.C. is that they're almost the opposite of each other. L.A. is a very creative space while D.C. is a very cerebral space. So, they're the ying and the yang in my world. I like them both for their own reasons.
I think the media loves taking the most absurd clips for a sport that has become congressional politics.
I'm also politically independent so I'm not a fan of either the Democrats in Congress or the Republicans in Congress.
My folks are in Jersey. And I have a lot of friends and other family there. So, I try to visit as much as possible.
The water cooler conversation in every job I've had is sports, it's what did you do this weekend, it's how are your parents doing.
Cable news is more titillating to talk about who's up and who's down and all that nonsense as opposed to what's actually done.
In many ways, I feel like having the opportunity to play Gogol in 'The Namesake' really was my dream role in many ways.
