I like to think I am well-mannered. If I have the option at a breakfast place, I'll go with the grits. That's how Southern I am.

I think I had a shyness about me, I think I discovered acting as a way to break out of that and as a way of belonging, a sense of being special.

I think anybody would be hard pressed not to relate to at least one of the characters, because there's so many different multifaceted people populating this crazy world.

I certainly know there are people in positions of power in the business who lack imagination and, perhaps as a result of that, think of me as 'David'. But I wouldn't really want to work with those people, you know?

So it's really nice after about a year and a half to get back on stage and flex those old muscles.

Ultimately, I'm a mess. I don't mean I'm a mess, like, emotionally - I mean, I think probably everybody's a mess. David's a mess. But. I'm talking about... I'm messy.

I think we're really - we're doing a really great job doing our show, and other shows are doing a great job doing theirs, and we'll just see what people have to say.

My mother is a survivor who's had a lot of things happen in her life that have been very trying.

I'm very focused on "Dexter" right now. I want to make it as good of a show as we can.

It's interesting to play a role where you don't really have to preoccupy yourself with any need to convince yourself that you're not acting.

People feel like they know me from the work I have done, but it's not me.

Yes, I mean, There's nothing like it. There is an added sense of pressure because of that, but there's also nothing like the thrill you get being in the same space with that audience right there and then. And when you do it, it's over.

I like to think I am well-mannered. If I have the option at a breakfast place, I'll go with the grits. That's how Southern I am.

For me, it was more a dramatic shift to go from the stage to the screen.

I don't think closeted homosexual morticians have the market cornered on self-loathing or sense of shame.

I never really considered acting as a career until I moved to New York.

I mean, the competition is really created by the buzz around the Emmys. It's a totally subjective thing.

I'm very focused on 'Dexter' right now. I want to make it as good of a show as we can.

There is no cost difference between incarceration and an Ivy League education; the main difference is curriculum.

My ultimate goal... is for you to live the life you're intended to live.

When I was working on Eye of the Beholder, I played a character who is so aloof that my whole lifestyle became very aloof. If someone knocked on my door, there was a part of me that went into a rage, because I wanted to be isolated and alone.

In 2001, terrorism was fought in a completely different way.

When I enjoy my surfing, I get good results, and I've always had fun in South Africa.

I can't be under the weight of the character for a 14-hour shooting day. I don't think anybody can do that.

It is quite possible for the vulgar to be funny, but to succeed, it must rise to a certain genius.

Being misunderstood doesn't mean you're the issue...sometimes it's the people that misunderstand you with all the issues.

I find it unusual that it is more socially acceptable to complain about what you have than it is to ask for what you want.

Money is a hazard.

When I was up there at the plate, my purpose was to get on base anyway I could, whether by hitting or by getting hit.

Good habits, which bring our lower passions and appetites under automatic control, leave our natures free to explore the larger experiences of life. Too many of us divide and dissipate our energies in debating actions which should be taken for granted.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.

I think, as women, we have to stop being scared to be the women we want to be and we have to raise our daughters to be the women they want to be - not the women we think they should be.

I'm coming from a Ginuwine and Usher background: slow and smooth songs. And that's why I really connected to Sam Cooke, because he was just very smooth. It's not like the James Brown types, which is all great stuff, but he was totally set apart from those guys.

I'm not Irish. Just because I have red hair doesn't mean I'm a lucky charm, you know?

I think it would collapse my heart if I was super famous. I don't have the nerve for it, I'm too anxious. I don't know how you're not obsessed with how people perceive you, because they're real people, you know? You can convince yourself that they don't really know you, and that's true, but how can it not hurt your feelings?

There is just a lot of creativity and theatricality in performers who happen to be gay. Maybe there's a success in numbers, so by the law of averages we are going to get these jobs.

My kids are at a point in their lives where I'm a moral compass for them. God help them both.

We've seen some insane signs: 'Is that a loaf of bread in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?' Funny stuff along those lines. Very original. One just said, 'I will do unspeakable things.' I thought that was very interesting - and mildly terrifying!

Hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one.

I work a lot of hours, and in this business you really try to keep as busy as you possibly can. Sometimes when you really focus on kids in your free time you lose the husband and wife relationship to some degree. It's been a real focus for us to make sure we stay focused on us two.

It's sad. That's a living creature. We don't have the right to take their life away for fashion.

I've grown up on TV, and there were some phases that weren't pretty.