The play I was doing [on a Broadway ], I was playing an obnoxious, outspoken kid, so [the director James Lapine ] saw me do the play, and he was like, "That's what I'm looking for." I tested for the part [in Life With Mikey]. Back then, I used to do screen tests. I mean, they still do every once in awhile, but it was a big deal.

After the writers' strike, I came back with my tail between my legs and apologized to everyone. I had been telling them I was going to leave, and I said, "I'm never going to leave," and that I'd stay with them as long as I can. And I really enjoyed the last two and a half seasons of Numbers more than before.

I would do prosthetics again, but not on a schedule like that [in Gigi Does It]. It was grueling and brutal and it almost killed me. That show almost killed me.

What happened was that none of that [Emmy nomination] really happened. Numbers flew under the radar, and so around the fourth season, I got really jaded and I wanted to quit.

The freedom of knowing that you're doing something off-kilter is liberating.

So many shows out there dumb-down the country. It's so admirable to be part of a show that wants people to think.

It looks glamorous and wonderful, but it's a job like any other. And I think that's their humility coming through, Joel [Coen] and Ethan's [Coen] humility. I think they really believe they are tradesmen, craftsmen, and they're just pursuing their trade, their craft, and doing the best they can with it.