I've never looked at acting like a job. It's never been like that.

You have so much freedom as an actor in your character's choices, and I really learned to take advantage of that.

I'm really close to my parents.

As an actor, you audition a lot for 'the girlfriend' or the 'hot girl.'

I worked hard when I was a consultant. I worked hard when I was in graduate school looking at neuroscience. I worked hard as a teacher. But those are completely different career paths. And the lack of direction is why I didn't get far enough in any of those things.

The first half of my TV career, I didn't do any genre at all.

Like I said, a 30-year-old hockey player, even when I came to New York when I was 30, I was on the downside of my career, pretty much the end of my career.

That first year in Chicago was one of the most memorable in my career. Getting traded rejuvenated me, and I had something to prove. I wanted to show them what I could do.