I love being in therapy. It's just constantly fulfilling for me.

You try to find the internal life, but a lot of it is creating it through physical behavior and figuring out the voice when you create as much of a past as you would in a naturalistic piece. But it's fun, because it's like you're learning something, learning some kind of physical skill.

You know, you really do choose your existence in a way.

Sometimes the work can get in the way and you give a less-good performance, and sometimes it doesn't and you can really get to the heart of something. And all the other stuff is just interesting and adds another layer to your performance. It helps you find the reality. Because you're not just playing yourself, you know? That would be kind of boring.

There's so much confidence and freedom that comes from that way of doing things. Robert Altman and Alan Rudolph make the set the place to be. It's fun. It's a kind of creative freedom that's really inspiring. Altman loved actors so much. He was a great mentor for me, really.

Even if the role is very far away from me, to try and make it as nakedly me as possible is an intriguing notion.

I think Robert Altman could see things in me that I didn't know I possessed, which is really exciting. He also instilled a tremendous amount of confidence, because he would say things like, "These are the bare bones, but I want you to go fill it out. You find the character. You bring it to me. You write whatever you want." And if you had an idea, he wouldn't want to hear about it. He's want you to show it to him.