What you aspire to on a sitcom is the feeling of live comedy.

I have a lot of faith in people.

If we are ever going to save this society and the world, there has got to be a way for us to work together. That may be more than we can ever hope to achieve, just because of human nature.

The problem is that people are pulling farther apart, rather than make an effort to get back together. There have been remarkable moments that united this country. It makes everyone feel relieved. Then because of economic stress, political shifts, we get wrenched apart again. I think it's cyclical. I am an optimist by nature. There are moments, the period after 9/11, the way we responded. The election of Barack Obama. There are moments where the country felt good about being American. I'm waiting for that to happen again.

Academics tend to have wonderfully infantile senses of humor.

That's how you deal with stardom; you make it the least important part of your life.

I'm always being asked to play roles or characters that I don't really resemble.