I worked so hard on that role [of Debra in Dexter]. And I barely worked on Rita. But I read for casting - both parts - and they said, "That's great, we're going to bring you in for producers." So I read for some producers - both parts - and they said, "That's great, we're going to bring you in to meet the creator." And I went in, and as soon as I walked in the room, he looked at me and he said, "Oh my god, you're our Rita!" And I said, "No! I'm Deb! I'm a total Deb!" "No, you're Rita!".

I'd been doing comedy up that point and hadn't really done a lot of drama, and then all of a sudden he casts me as a 400-year-old vampire from hell. It was, like, "What?!"

I originally read for the roles of Debra and Rita [in Dexter], because they didn't know what direction they were going in, and I worked so hard on Deb, because I just wanted to swear. I wanted to say all those nasty words. That was it: "I want to swear on television!".

I had the prosthetics on, and I went to my trailer, I looked in the mirror, and I smiled. And I was, like, "This is the character - everything she does is with a smile and a bit of glee and joy." And that's how I created Darla [from Buffy The Vampire Slayer]. Prior to that, I was, like, "I have no idea how to play this 400-year-old vampire from hell!".

I still have people coming up to me, and it was, what, six or seven years ago when that finale aired? And they tell me who they were watching with, what their emotional reaction was, and how they were devastated for weeks about [Rita's death in Dexter].

I went in for an audition [for As Good As It Gets], but the audition was with James L. Brooks. I was the first girl in that morning, and there was a whole waiting room of girls waiting to read for it. So I did my audition, and he asked me to step outside. So I stepped outside, and when he asked me to come back in, he looked at me, and he said, "Well, I'm very excited to work with you on set." And I was, like, "What?" I thought it was a Hollywood blow-off.

[Two Evil Eyes] was shot in Pittsburgh, and that's where I was born and raised, so it was really nice to be a part of Pittsburgh film culture.