There is a misperception, if you will, in critical response or even in Hollywood, that I can only do exaggerated characters. Or what they would call over-the-top performances. Well, this is completely false.

Guy Pearce is very precise and clear about understanding the rhythm and the music of a scene.

If I could have been a marine biologist I would have, but I didn't have that kind of intelligence. Numbers were never my strong point.

I think what makes people fascinating is conflict, it's drama, it's the human condition. Nobody wants to watch perfection.

I actually have a pretty good sense of humor.

I have always felt a comedy's story is undercut if you have a villain who is not really menacing.

I certainly didn't say while writing 'Gossip Girl,' 'Oh this is going to be big!' It was really like, 'Oh god, everyone's gong to hate these people! They're so bratty!' But I actually think what is so appealing about them is the humor in them.

I think that art, and making music or comedy, is a way of positing yourself on the map and then trying to find other people out there with you.