Discipline — both mental and physical — is crucial.

Some people study a text very deeply. The people are my text. I study their words and what their words sound like, over and over again. When I was a kid, my grandfather said that "if you say a word often enough, it becomes you." Thinking of that later in life gave me this idea that I could try to become America by learning the words of people from many aspects of the country. It doesn't matter how educated they are. By living in the world and living their experiences, they bring extraordinary truths. I try to do those truths justice.

Those in the margins are always trying to get to the center, and those at the center, frequently in the name of tradition, are trying to keep the margins at a distance.

A lot of acting techniques are very self-oriented.

I happen to be a hopeaholic. I tend to look at problems as an opportunity to do some work.

My main concern is theater, and theater does not reflect or mirror society. It has been stingy and selfish, and it has to do better.

My work is about giving voice to the unheard, and reiterating the voice of the heard in such a way that you question, or re-examine, what is the truth.