The fact that I have a job that people even watch is an incredible gift.

Once you have a PhD, every meeting you go to becomes a doctor's appointment.

I awaken. I consume oxygen, then bacon, eggs and black coffee, then my wife, then bacon.

My wife, the actress Megan Mullally, was an English major at Northwestern University and loves fiction. Like so many things in my life, she curates things for me. For example, I have the daunting prospect of Donna Tartt's "The Goldfinch" waiting for me when I get through my current reading pile.

I've never seen a theater community to rival that of Chicago. Neither New York nor L.A. has the raw talent or integrity that Chicago theater has, and I think it's because Chicago doesn't have Broadway or the film and TV business to distract it.

Jobs that require a suit upset me. They displease me much, as our world is rife with such superficial conformity.

You know, even working actors can end up having a lot of spare time. And you can either go sit at the Starbucks and wait for your agent to call you, or you can go learn how to build a Shaker blanket chest with hand-cut dovetails.