Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep can play with the boys but there just aren't that many tour-de-force roles out there for women.

Toby Zeigler: There's literally no one in the world I don't hate right now.

Decisions are made by those who show up.

That's a very real feeling - that I don't have a story to tell. I'm not a pure storyteller. I have a tough time with story.

I had never thought of doing television. But my agent wanted me to meet John Wells, who had had a lot of success producing ER and China Beach. The night before the meeting, some friends were over for dinner and Akiva Goldsman and I slipped downstairs to the basement so we could sneak a cigarette. He said, "You know what would make a good television series? That." And he was pointing at The American President poster. He said, "There doesn't have to be a romance, just focus on a senior staffer."

The downside to series television is that the schedule is ferocious. It constantly feels like you have a midterm due that you haven't started yet.

I'm terribly afraid of failure. When your identity is wrapped up in writing and you've written something that doesn't work, it's a tough pill to swallow.