I just really committed to trying to never repeat myself. I'd seen actors do that on films, and I was, like, "I wanna try that once!" Ultimately, I'm much more in the school of getting one or two versions that feel right, as opposed to going all over the map. But it's fun to exercise that once in awhile.
Hank AzariaI was a huge fan of comedy and movies and TV growing up, and I was able to memorize and mimic a lot of things, not realizing that that meant I probably wanted to be an actor. I just really, really amused myself and my friends with memorizing entire George Carlin or Steve Martin albums.
Hank AzariaIt's not really difficult to go from one voice into the next. It's like asking you to sing a line of Happy Birthday and then Goodnight Irene - assuming you know the words to both those songs
Hank AzariaThe craft Emmys are kind of the kids table at Thanksgiving. You're not really invited to the big dance. It's still really, really exciting, and the statue still counts.
Hank AzariaI've met a lot of rock stars when they come to The Simpsons, and almost every one of them I get really freaked out.
Hank AzariaGuys will definitely settle for women who get the joke. But a woman who can make you laugh? It's not high on a guy's must list. Perhaps it should be.
Hank AzariaI tend to not watch things that are current. And then if everybody swears it's amazing then I'll like watch the whole series in a weekend.
Hank AzariaBeing funny with a funny voice is more my comfort zone, a broader character that I try to humanize, a kind of silly or wacky persona that I try to fill in.
Hank AzariaI was hedging my bets by the time I got to college. I was interested in drama and journalism and psychology.
Hank AzariaI did a lot of theater in college, and I knew that not many people make it, but I just figured, 'Well, I really want to try acting while I'm young, and I don't ever want to look back and say that I never gave it a try.' I fully figured I'd be back in grad school - probably for psychology.
Hank AzariaA lot of times, when I record with a group, I'll stay after class for another hour or two and go, 'Let me try a bunch of things I was thinking of, as you were doing that.'
Hank AzariaPolitics is topical - it's what's happening now, and we can either respond in the present or avoid it.
Hank AzariaGetting over someone is a grieving process. You mourn the loss of the relationship, and that's only expedited by 'Out of sight, out of mind.' But when you walk outside and see them on a billboard or on TV or on the cover of a magazine, it reopens the wound. It's a high-class problem, but it's real.
Hank AzariaI don't really remember much about the '60s at all. You know, 1970 is the first year I remember pretty well.
Hank AzariaI say with pride that I've done over a hundred voices or something, and some of them may have only had two or three lines, but I literally never ran out. I think I'm a bit of a savant that way. I kind of remember every voice I hear, famous or otherwise, and can imitate it pretty fast. I've enjoyed mimicking people famous and not famous all through my life, and they kind of remain in the memory banks, so I'm ready to trot them out.
Hank AzariaI've been divorced and I had to get back out there be single again and do some of that in the genuinely miserable state where you really do wonder what the hell is going on. And you feel like trying to have casual conversation with someone you don't know on the surface of the moon or something.
Hank AzariaWomen are, in general, less shallow visually. If their man gains 10, 20 pounds, they don't care as much. But I've been with women over the years when my weight fluctuated, and they're definitely more interested physically when I am in really great shape.
Hank AzariaWhen you do well in a movie that's seen as really great, you're revitalized for six weeks.
Hank AzariaYou can't be funny for funny's sake. You try to get as outrageous situation as you can but it always has to be believable and based in real character motivations and what people would really do.
Hank AzariaA self-help book can't really address a problem unless it's individualized. It's not going to talk about a globalized problem.
Hank AzariaAssociation bring you into the larger world of other people and things. Not having that is a kind of prison, a prison of such a limited consciousness, of such a limited frame of reference and association.
Hank AzariaI wore a thong and a bra and a wig. Those things hurt. I mean, thongs? Like, they dig in. It takes a tough man to be a woman.
Hank AzariaI put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself. I felt like I shouldn't have to audition for anything and all that. And that energy did not serve me at all.
Hank AzariaIn my cranky old age, I actually prefer recording alone now, on 'The Simpsons,' for example, because I find that the director can just focus on what I'm doing and I can do a lot of variations. A lot of times, when I record with a group, I'll stay after class for another hour or two.
Hank AzariaI guess I'm used to seeing actors, but rock musicians still hold a special magic for me.
Hank AzariaLiterally, I see my writing as transcription - a transcription of what I see, hear, think, live.
Hank AzariaAs an actress, you're living something through the duration of the play and its geography. I've always seen writing the same way. It's like somehow I'm moving through the terrain of the book as a performer.
Hank AzariaWomen are, in general, less shallow visually. If their man gains 10, 20 pounds, they don't care as much.
Hank AzariaI guess for me the greatest injustice is to see people robbed of that interiority and process of association.
Hank AzariaWhen you become deeply involved with someone, their problems become yours, and vice versa. It's family.
Hank AzariaHistorically, there would always be people among the general population who had family members, friends, cousins who'd done time or who'd been in prison.
Hank AzariaYou know those award shows. The cliche is that it's an honor just to be nominated, but that happens to be true. Whoever wins it in the end, I don't know, sometimes it feels arbitrary. Sometimes it feels like it's deserving.
Hank Azaria