I really think that studying theater early on really helped me to be able to identify how to get into a character, because it's such a mysterious thing. Learning objective acting in the beginning of my career was the best thing I could have ever done.

When I was younger ,I used to want to be, like, a back-up dancer, and my mom was like, 'Well, you know, you can do that, but you might want to choose another career.'

There's a lot of division in politics, and that is why I am grateful to be a part of a show like 'Veep.' It makes light of the daunting aspects of the political world.

If you think about 'Person of Interest' with Taraji P. Henson or 'Scandal' with Kerry Washington - any of those black women could have been any race; they just happen to be black. And those are the characters that I'm more attracted to. It's not so much about separation of race, but really, more uniting us.

I was doing a lot of drama until I took the comedy role in the series 'Car 54, Where Are You?,' and I've been tagged as a comedian ever since.

It's important for me to have my family close.

I don't want the staggeringly wealthy Elton John and his family to represent the standard of gay fatherhood any more than straight people want the stunningly beautiful Angelina Jolie and her family to represent the standard of heterosexual parenthood. Stars are outliers; stars are exceptions.

I did work at a mall in college - I think retail/customer service is just one of the most hideous jobs in the world. So I always try to be extra nice when I go into a store. But malls are part of our culture, if you watched any teen comedy in the '80s. it's clear that malls are where we live!