I think of myself as a doom person. I'm a worrier. But I like the idea of being an optimist. Maybe I'm the kind of optimist who deep down knows it's not going to work.

You can think of Hollywood as high school. TV actors are freshmen, comedy actors are maybe juniors, and dramatic actors - they're the cool seniors.

I guess I was a little bit nervous, because there seemed to be so much secrecy with Ben [Stiller] wanting to make sure that it was a surprise when we walked out on the [Valentino] runway. I remember showing up at Place Vendôme and doing the fitting and seeing the pajamas that I was going to wear - which I like very much - and seeing Ben arrive kind of in disguise.

We worked together with Wes Anderson writing a couple more movies together: Rushmore [1998] and Tenenbaums.

There's what is on screen and then for us, it's if you get along with the people and enjoy showing up at work.

Movies I liked growing up were like Francis Ford Coppolla movies and Scorsese movies.

Maybe because I began as a writer, I have a good ear for dialogue, and maybe being an English major - and that I also read a lot as a kid - if I hear somebody say something that I think's funny, or I find a situation or story, I'll try to work that into the movie.