Because of fear, and the way my career went, I started playing a lot of villainous roles.

I've had a 'Zelig'-like career. I pop up unexpectedly. I'm always kind of around.

I had a bike as a kid, and when I worked in Manhattan - I had a 10-speed - I rode from downtown to 68th and Madison for my day job. I knew about fighting traffic, but nothing about racing.

I've done three Broadway shows; once the curtain goes up, that's it. I mean, you prepare and you rehearse like crazy, but after opening night, the director's not there anymore, you know. He gives you notes during previews after each performance, but opening night, you're on your own.

As a rule, I think people in L.A. are interested in any writer who brings a different skill set and experiences. There's an attraction to novelty and to anyone whose writing isn't based in screenwriting. I had that novelty.

I think most Irish people are creative. Whether it's music, or dance, or... certainly storytelling is in the blood.

Unlike painting, sculpture, or music, typefaces must be useful to someone. Fortunately for designers, the digital age has produced new problems to solve - developing typefaces that work on mobile phones, for one - and enabled better solutions to old problems.

The American imagination has never been able to fully recover from its white-supremacist beginnings.