Yeah, sometimes it gets a little sappy for me, but I'm tired of hearing about dysfunctional families in sitcoms. That's been done to death, and that's probably what everybody expected from me. But that's not what I wanted to do.

I don't return anybody's calls unless it's going to mean extra money for me. And I've completely cut off all relationships with any friends that I had before the show. And I've copped an attitude.

I think I'm optimistic, yeah, especially in real life, but I think it's funny to be pessimistic.

I probably drive casting people crazy because I'm not thinking about actors so much as real people.

When you make movies, you've picked the most expensive art form, and somebody has to pay for it. You kind of owe it to them to at least let them know how you expect to make it as accessible to as many people as you can, given the story you're telling.

Why should every single character be an honor student who goes around helping others and never doing anything wrong? Is that like the rule or something?

You look at material a different way when your ass is on the line financially for it. You want to know where the big laughs are, and how we're going to sell this.