A lot of young poets today, from what I've heard and experienced, can't get their heads past George W. Bush, and I've heard so many poems about this democracy and this era of politics that I'm kind of bored by it

I think I relate to all the characters in one way or another. I'm a chameleon like that

Because the role-model pressure becomes so insane, the personal and private takes a backseat to whatever it takes to maintain that fame and to maintain that lifestyle, and before you know it you're not a human being anymore.

I tried not to make God this big deal in Joan's life. She treats God like a friend: she's nice to him some days, and other days mean, and then cries when she needs help.

I've been kind of submerged in my own little geographic location for a really long time in Venice Beach

The poetry when I was a kid felt like something that I could control, and whether it failed or not, whether it was good or not, was totally on me and I could accept that. It was entirely mine.

My own personal connection with God was not in a religious sense, so I wasn't really thinking in that way when I got the role and when I started doing it.