I wanted to be a meteorologist. I wanted to be a marine biologist.

A lot of the stuff that I do with Betty is in the eyes. A lot of the feelings that I evoke with her are unspoken, so that's been fun to play with.

People think that I changed my name. I could've been an actress, a superhero, or a stripper.

I wanted to be a meteorologist. I wanted to be a marine biologist.

My dad liked how January went with Jones. My sisters' names are Jina and Jacey Jones.

'Mad Men' was really my first television role, and it never feels like TV to me. It's done at such a high level.

If I could do one thing over I'd have been nicer to my parents.

I lived in a town of 400 until I was like nine or ten. My dad coached all the sports - he was a gym teacher and health teacher for grades K-12.

In this business, I don't know how you can have a plan or how you can orchestrate anything. But I've been lucky with my choices. I'm very strong-willed, so I've been able to stick with it. I'm lucky there.

Why not show off if you've got something to show?

I have that thing in my stomach where I just need to keep striving for things. In my mind, I want the fairy tale.

I feel as though my career really hit its high point when I was cast as a supporting actress in 'American Wedding'. I thought the script had a lot of depth and intelligence, and it really just jumped off the page.

If everything always went perfectly, I would feel like, When is the ball going to drop? Because good things don't always last. Maybe I'm a pessimistic person. When something just seems too good, I can't believe it.

Going to New York to do whatever - show business - it just seemed fun. It seemed fun to go to the big city and meet all kinds of different people and maybe be famous. It was just exciting. So I wasn't scared.

I choose roles that are not me.

Am I being typecast as a horrible person? I don't know. I don't think so. But if it happens, I'd rather get to play that, because there's nothing fun about being sweet. Sweet can be so boring, so I'd be happy staying away from that.

The accumulation of cultural capital - the acquisition of knowledge - is the key to social mobility.

A fantasy film is often improved by some kind of human reality.

The great act of faith is when a man decides he is not God.

Sixteen times a year, all thirty-two NFL teams give us what we're looking for: speed, skill, violence, fantasy league orgasms and a final score. No confusion. No doubt. No indecision. A winner and a loser.

You have to be able to risk your identity for a bigger future than the present you are living.

I really love 'Real Housewives.' It's like the, you know, comedy stuff that's, like, intentionally funny. Like, I love 'Nathan for You,' that Comedy Central show. It's just brilliant. My friend Bill Eichner has a show called 'Billy on the Street' that I write for, and even if I didn't write for it, I'd still love it.

If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.

One of the most magical places on Earth is a small island in the Caribbean called Mustique. With brilliant beaches, warm water, and lush vegetation, this tiny green swath of land is my idea of paradise.

When American producers see my film, they think that I had a big budget to do it, like 23 million. But in fact I had 10 percent of that budget. I did 'Mars et Avril' for only 2.3 million.

Whenever I do your show, sometimes I get a little check in the mail and then I take that check and buy a new pair of shoes, and then I wear those shoes the next time I do your show.

The difference between a tool and a machine is not capable of very precise distinction; nor is it necessary, in a popular explanation of those terms, to limit very strictly their acceptation.

In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.

The presidency of the United States is an incredible thing. You have an ability to effectuate change at the highest level.

I almost didn't turn pro at all. I was tempted to be a career amateur. I worked as an investment banker for nine months after I got out of school, and the money was fantastic and promised to get even more lucrative.

I started writing this feature comedy in New York - a Chris Farley vehicle. The script was decent. When I got to LA, I met some new friends in film school and had them read my script and give me notes.

To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men.

Series television is either a nightmare or the best thing in the whole world. It really depends on, I think, where you are in your life.

Anecdotes are factoids of questionable provenance, burnished to a high gloss, often set in gilded venues and populated with familiar names as background atmosphere, purged of ambiguity in the interest of keeping the narrative flowing smoothly.

If someone is lying to you, they'll generally look up to the top right. That means that they're trying to construct an image that doesn't exist.

Consensus wisdom has it that all modern commercial fantasy novels fall into two camps: those derived from J.R.R. Tolkien and those derived from Mervyn Peake. The 'Lord of the Rings' template or the 'Gormenghast' mold.

When you are the first of anything, there is a bigger responsibility put on you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

I like to stay within the context of the character's background. If he's a cop, I have to make sure the audience is convinced that this person, a cop, can do only so much without a gun.

Oh, that sound? I'm in the hot tub, reading a novel.