So I was hugely thrilled that my first scene ever on camera was with Hal Holbrook.

So I was hugely thrilled that my first scene ever on camera was with Hal Holbrook.

I did tons of theater in school, and then when I was 16 and got my driver's license, I started driving to Los Angeles, along with my friend Eric Stoltz, who was a year ahead of me and was doing the same thing. So we had the same manager, and we started auditioning for things and doing commercials when we were 16.

I'm the youngest of five kids, and I wanted attention. And in Santa Barbara, there was lots of theater going on, so for that area, it was a little bit like playing Little League baseball. There were dance classes, theater classes, and I just loved it.

I had this thing about hanging out in dark theaters. My family thought I grew out of a rock.

You know, you never say never because before I did 'ER,' I always said 'I'll never do a TV series,' so that's what I said.

I never dreamed about being on a hit television series. I've never really related my dreams to that specific of a work goal. I was always enjoying the moment. Acting, writing, looking for roles and getting involved with people and trying to create something that would be entertaining to people. With "E.R." we were all very lucky to get this combination of people together in the right story in the right way to take it to the level it has reached.