Paul Sparks

I just came home one day and, in a midlife-crisis sort of way, I told my wife, 'I'm going to run a marathon,' not really understanding what that was. Then I just kind of got into it, and now that I have been running pretty consistently over the past few years, I don't know if it's because I love it or because I hate myself. I just really enjoy it.

No, I'm not angling for huge fame. My career has been a very slow, arduous climb to the middle.

If I was able to be omniscient and look at my career objectively, I'd be very happy.

As actors, we get used to disappointment. We go on a hundred job interviews a year and get two or three jobs.

I don't know everybody's political opinions, but I think the majority of people in the arts are pretty leftist, and we're disappointed in the Trump administration.

I'm pretty fortunate that my beard - if I shave it off, I look like a completely different person. My face, it transforms. I mean, I have a weird face! My eyes are really deep and sunken. My son tells me, 'You don't have any eyebrows.'

As an actor, I'm more interested in characters the longer I have lived with them.

I think that's kind of nice that there's this kind of inherent respect between runners who do a marathon. People respect somebody who has done it, and I will do anything to get some respect because I don't get a lot respect in my life.

The characters I've played that I like the most are people that have a lot of obstacles. They have a lot of bad things going on. They're seeking to do something good amidst all the detritus around them, and they're aware of how badly they've screwed it up. That kind of self-awareness is tragic.

I've always been of the mindset that you will be defined by the things you say 'no' to because it's so easy to say 'yes.'

I actually did not like to run. It was probably my least favorite thing that I had to do, and then in 1999, I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. It was really strange. One good thing to do for diabetes is to exercise. I don't really like gyms anymore, and I travel quite a bit, so I realized that you can just take shoes and shorts and run anywhere.

I have a somewhat reclusive quality myself, and actually what's great about New York is that it pushes you to be social because the streets are full of people.