You do what you can. You have to leave room to grow and make mistakes.

I watched a lot of old television growing up - a lot of Nick at Nite. I watched 'Rhoda', 'Mary Tyler Moore', and 'I Love Lucy.' Growing up, I loved 'My So Called Life' and was devastated when that went off the air.

All the women that are first born daughters in my family are named Mary, but we've all been given nicknames. I don't know how or why that started, but I'm nicknamed after my great-grandmother, who was Mamie. No one ever calls me Mary, except only if my husband is very serious about something.

I'd like to learn how to cook. I've hauled around this big, old, heavy Martha Stewart cookbook in my suitcase to Cape Cod, L.A., Paris. I don't know what possessed me.

My first day on the set of 'John Adams', I was just supposed to fly to Virginia for a costume fitting. But the director figured, why not shoot it, too? So they threw me into a dress that didn't fit, gave me lines I hadn't seen, in a dialect I didn't know, and two screaming, arching infants.

I was an optimistic person, really bossy, gregarious and outspoken.

I'd like to keep exploring comedy. I didn't necessarily think of myself as a comedic actress, but it's a lot of fun.