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.

I have never been in a violent movie or television show.

Discipline — both mental and physical — is crucial.

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.

Learning is a tunnel experience that makes us think more broadly.

Each person has a literature inside them.

Listening is not just hearing what someone tells you word for word. You have to listen with a heart. I don't want that to sound touchy-feely; it is not. It is very hard work.