Allison Janney

Growing up, everybody told me I was good. I was playing ping-pong with my father, and he'd say, 'That's a good shot,' but I'd mess up the next one, and I'd yell, 'Don't tell me that! I'll mess up! Just don't say anything!' You know, if someone says, 'You can't do that,' then I'm going to be, 'Yeah, you watch me.' ”

I have the power of my height. Growing up, it was a total drawback. There was nothing good about it at all. ”

One out of forty American men wears women's clothing. We've had more than forty presidents. One of these guys has been dancing around the Oval Office in a prom dress. ”

Great drama is all about conflict, and what's a better conflict than Republican-Democrat? ”

The first job where I actually made money was on 'Guiding Light,' the soap opera. And I played a maid. My name was Ginger, and I had a Brooklyn accent - a really bad one, if I remember correctly. ”

I felt like my career started late, and I think it was because of my height - and maybe some of my confidence issues. ”

The fact that 'Mom' is not joke, joke, joke - and is investing in these characters and their lives, things that really happen to people - I think it's resonating, and that's why people are tuning into it and not just dismissing it as a multi-cam sitcom. ”

It is a very difficult job, being the servant of two masters. ”

Being a figure skater myself and knowing what it took for my parents to get up at five in the morning to drive me to the rink before school and then drive me to practice after school - it's a huge commitment for any family. ”

I never think of a project as just being comedy or just being drama - even with 'Masters of Sex.' I like being sort of messy, like life is. ”