Idealism loses to pragmatism when it comes to winning elections.

It seems to me that our presidential elections have turned more into a popularity contest than a real analysis about who really should be President of the United States.

To have a show have lawyers fighting civil rights cases week in and week out, I think it's exactly what we need.

I think there's a lot of shame in American race relations. There's a lot of suppressed guilt that lashes itself out still. I see that all the time, and whereas opposed to sort of trying to address the issue in an up-front way, they're attacking and thus perpetuating the problem thinking that they're being sophisticated and post-racial, when, in fact, they're being completely regressive.

Usually if a scene's really hard to write, I just don't write it. Nothing's coming to mind.

I spent so many years of my life as a stage actor and when you do all these plays, a lot of really great plays are very politically driven. They deal with deep social issues, and that's the kind of stuff that I love, as an audience member.

I studied voice for about two years with an amazing coach, and I never rose above the level of mediocre.