I moved to New York to go to Julliard Drama School. Didn't sing a single note of music.

I feel the most alive when I'm singing. I also get to be the mail man for some of the most beautiful lyrics ever written.

I try to say something about the human condition whenever I can when I'm lucky.

I think it's fair to say I'm attracted to playing characters who are rather intense.

When I was your age, I used to treat the crust like it was just there to hold the good stuff in. I used to leave the whole back end of it on the plate. As I got older, I learned to appreciate the crust.

There two other areas that are personally deeply important to me, that I hope the Homeland show can attend to in some way - one, being the refugee crisis. These are the most vulnerable people among us in the world. There are over 60 million refugees displaced by war, over 21 million that go to a third country. The numbers are climbing, and there are no legal options for these people. These are the victims of the real world's crises that the Homeland world reflects on, and almost takes a Polaroid of these days, versus a fictional tale of it.

I grew up in Synagogue in the boys' choir. We didn't listen to music in the house; only at temple. Then I went to a mostly African American high school on the South Side of Chicago and joined a gospel choir.