Nick Gehlfuss

I set a goal for myself in being an actor and moving out to L.A., and I really felt I had achieved it when I landed 'Shameless.'

When I was in college, I wasn't in a fraternity or anything. I always wanted to jump around to all different types of cliques.

You try to find the romance in the struggle, or at least that's what you keep telling yourself. But you talk to successful actors, and the struggle always is what they miss the most.

I'll never forget the moment in class when I went from being afraid to fail, to expecting to fail. This informs everything I do.

I think the better actor I am, the better person I become.

A teacher asked me if I'd audition for a play, and I ended up playing the pirate Red Dog in a production of 'Treasure Island.' And that's where it started, and I really felt part of something special, but I still didn't think about it as something I wanted to do. I was just having fun.

As for people I would love to work with, Meryl Streep, of course! She's my favorite.

The life of an actor is sort of abnormal in the sense where you never know what's going to happen, which I've really given over to.

If, at the end of the day, you cannot answer 'yes' to the question, 'Did I do everything I could today to achieve my dream?' then you must adjust.

I'm finding out that I'm not squeamish whatsoever.

I come from a pretty positive family and positive environment, and in that sense, I'm very fortunate and grateful; that has kept me grounded.

My personality is I enjoy constant change and mixing it up.