I love the fans of genre. Genre fans are the best fans. They're loyal, they're dedicated, and they're passionate about the projects. They get it on a cerebral level. Being a part of that culture and that world... It's very gratifying and very fulfilling.

It's really interesting - I wanted to become an actress when I was young because I wanted to do romantic comedy. And I did a lot of comedies very early on, but then my career took kind of a left turn with Joss Whedon, and I discovered that doing genre work is actually more interesting as an actor, because the given circumstances are more extreme. And it really is creatively more challenging.

I love doing sitcoms and I love performing in front of a live audience, so [Payne] was a really fun experience.

Darla [from Buffy The Vampire Slayer] wasn't Darla in the beginning, by the way. Darla was just Vampire Girl #1. But I just started adding a little bit of glee and joy into everything she did and just relied on the fact that the prosthetic does the work. And then I didn't have to be scary. The prosthetic was scary enough. I just had to smile and show off Darla's really great dental work.

We shot [Hi Honey, I'm Home] on location in Orlando, Florida, so I was there by myself. And I remember I was late one day, and Gale Gordon pulled me aside, and he said, "Honey, when it says you have to be here at 10 a.m., you need to be here at 9:30." And ever since, I've always been a half-hour early to my call time!

I remember reading an interview that Anthony Hopkins had given about how he developed Hannibal Lecter. He said he just looked in the mirror and, I forget exactly what it was, but he looked in the mirror and realized that when he smiled, it looked creepy.

I just don't think [Payne] was the right time to do it, maybe. It was timing, not so much that it was executed wrong.