Growing up, I was the only Indian kid around for miles, so I ached to belong. I had a neighborhood pack of nine guys and two girls, and we hung out all the time. We played football, baseball, and broom-hockey on the iced-up lake.

We've always had a philosophy that we would always go wherever the joke is.

Philosophy teaches you to think big.

Filmmaking, at the end of the day, is really - in addition to the story and all of the equipment and the actors, it's really about time management. And so the smartest filmmakers are the ones who sort of pre-visualize the film in their head and are literally shooting the shots they need to cut the story together.

I did come to L.A. to try to get on TV and get in front of a camera, so I could have a stage career in New York.

I spent the first 15 years of my career in Seattle.

My adrenaline is definitely going, but it's mostly my real, laid-back persona carrying over on stage. When I first started, I was nervous, I'd be really high energy, and I'd be sweating. Now it's just my job. It's like a machinist who goes to work every day and uses the same drill bits. He's not worried about taking his finger off.

I had a lot of time to think in the service; I swore that, if I survived, nothing would keep me from an acting career.