When I was a kid, my father would read Neil Simon plays with me, when I was going to bed, as bedtime stories.
For the first actual comedy-comedy I did, I took a comedy class in New York, which was full of slightly unhinged people. It was a pretty depressing crowd, very angry and strange people. But then I took a class at the Upright Citizens Brigade, and I loved those people.
This is going to sound pretentious, but I like comedy that addresses something I find either worrisome or interesting in my life.
I can be such a Little Lord Fauntleroy about what I even audition for.
You can't be a professional rejector of opportunities.
I don't like comedy that makes me feel worse about the world than I already felt before I turned it on.
If you don't allow your aggression or negative feelings to be expressed in your waking life, then it migrates into your subconscious.
I always think it's hilarious when the stand-ins come in for 'Silicon Valley,' because it's a complete inversion of the attractiveness quotient that is supposed to exist.
I think I gravitate towards characters who are slight outsiders.
'The Office' was such a great first job.
Just the number of people - 'Silicon Valley''s a relatively small, core cast, whereas 'The Office' was enormous. Also, I feel more of a sense of ownership of 'Silicon Valley' because I've been there from the get-go.
I think a challenge with every sitcom is, how do you maintain things that people are attached to without becoming so reiterative that it just feels like you're sort of watching a reenactment of previous episodes?
Your body - or my body - is just kind of stupid. Like, your body doesn't know whether you're acting something because it's happening or whether you're acting it because it's in the script.
It's funny; I think I'm at a level of recognizability - is that even a word? - where it's just really nice. I think when people are really famous, it can be hard for them because they feel like it's an invasion. But for me, it's just a few times every day when someone will say something sweet and validating, and it's just the best.
