I lived in St. Louis, Missouri, and now my kids are growing up in Los Angeles, so that's culturally very different.

As a kid growing up St. Louis, Missouri, I lived in a predominantly black neighborhood. Any time people talked about slavery, it was always something like, 'If I was a slave, I wouldn't have been putting up with that. I would have been out in a heartbeat.' And it's like, sure, it's a very easy thing to say.

Sarah Paulson is the most prepared and professional actor I've had the privilege of working with. I learned so much about preparation and attention to detail and speaking up when something is not right.

I think what Hollywood is learning at large is that there is profitability in stories that are culturally specific and that you can only address the universal through the specific.

If two scientists are giving their papers at a symposium, and one of them is just naturally better at talking to the public or talking to a group of people, that scientist is liable to get more attention - in fact, I'm told that they do get more attention - than the one who's a little more stiff about it. Well, that's not good for science.

How do you build a relationship when you've hardly shared a word but suddenly share a child? How do you love a daughter you don't see for nearly two years? When does she become your daughter? How does she become your daughter?

For me, modern technology has ruined romance and movies - nobody can run to the airplane gate anymore.

So often in sitcoms, it's like, 'Oh, that husband of mine. He just screwed up again.' They just have to tolerate each other. It's not the most fun to play from my perspective. But by the same token, you can't be like, 'We're just like Romeo and Juliet, always in love.'