It's really cool to know that you've put something together that isn't for a particular audience. It's so often that a TV show can really only speak to one sect of the population, and this really is something that appeals to a worldwide fan base. People who are into the pursuit of knowledge. Their reaction has meant the world to us.

[The Ghost Team] is basically about people who have nothing to do, and so they do something really silly and stupid. It's about the nature of nothingness, how people deal with that, and how sometimes going down a rabbit hole of your beliefs can put you in some serious trouble. It can also free up a side of you that has been repressed. At the end of the film, they're all disappointed, but they're also jazzed that they got to know each other.

Basically we learned not ever to do a show like that [ Gigi Does It] again. That took me to a limit that I didn't know I had. First off, I show-ran the show and was the head writer. I had never done anything like that before. It was an immense responsibility.

The rest - all the hoopla, the acclaim - doesn't really matter a lot to Joel and Ethan [Coen]. They just want to get the chance to continue to work. And that blew my mind. To be at that level and to have that humility, it was eye-opening and inspiring.

What's great is that because math is such a universal language, really, our fans come in all shapes and sizes, all ages and genders and races and backgrounds and cultures.

I remember at the time, there were all these teen movies being made. It was this resurgence of John Hughes-esque teen comedies. I was sent a lot of them to audition for, and a lot of them at the time didn't really impress me. I remember I was sent one called East Grand Rapids High, which ended up becoming American Pie, and I didn't like it. Although I think I did audition for it.

That experience [in Hail, Caesar! ] ruined me for all future experiences, because the Coen brothers are the best. They're arguably the greatest of all time, if there is such a thing.