I was like a Borscht Belt comedian trapped in the body of a 6-year-old. I was channeling Jackie Mason at 7.

Josh [Gad] does such an amazing job playing a lovable idiot. Not many people can do that, as convincingly as he can.

Acting comes natural to me. What I do enjoy is meeting people that I've idolized for years. I mean, I was talking about bringing up a child with Edie Falco yesterday.

I think “The Book of Mormon” has made that difference in its field. It changed the game. It’s something that 20 years from now people will still be talking about, hopefully. That’s my goal as an artist, as a creator, as a work for hire, is to choose projects that make people think, make people talk, and make people interested in having a dialogue.

Melissa McCarthy just opened this new movie, “Identity Thief,” and Rex Reed, who’s a known critic, wrote a scathing commentary on her weight. I think that weight designation is one of the last frontiers of bullying. I don’t know what the right “ism” for it is, but I think that there’s a level of that that’s happening that’s certainly not okay.

Josh Gad and I have been friends since the time he auditioned for Modern Family. I directed the pilot for that, and that's how we met.

Hollywood is the kind of place that takes what you do well in one thing and manufactures it so the joy can be taken out of it.