I know some things when I start. I know, let's say, that the play is going to be a 1970s or a 1930s play, and it's going to be about a piano, but that's it. I slowly discover who the characters are as I go along.

You get to the point where your demons, which are terrifying, get smaller and smaller and you get bigger and bigger.

Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.

Suffice it to say, I'm not poor.

I may be personable, but I assure you I am a lion.

Between speeches and awards, you can find something to do every other week. It's hard to write. Your focus gets splintered. Once you put one thing in your calendar, that month is gone.

You got to take the crookeds with the straights. That's what Papa used to say.