I have never taken myself that seriously as an actor.

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 lived in Rome for about five or six months during Life Aquatic.

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.

It isn't so much that I choose the roles - I mean, I guess there's a little bit of a selection process - but it's more just what people offer you.

I definitely would like to do some more dramatic roles.

The movies I've done with Wes [Anderson] have a much different quality than some of the more broad comedies. But what is interesting is how many sequels I've done. I've worked with Ben [Stiller] a million times now, and this is yet another sequel we're doing. I guess we're lucky to be in some movies that people wanted to see again.