As artists, you always want to push yourself. There's always new territory.

Those darker sides, the things that we don't want to admit about ourselves - that's what excites me.

I try to get roles that challenge me in what I can do and who I think I can portray. For me, it's about creating characters with really fascinating stories, because that's what I like to watch on TV.

Dance has always been a really important thing for me, so being able to physically express the characters through music and dance is like another layer to things.

Just to be on set with Amy Poehler, who's one of my heroes, was a total dream come true.

I think in the inception and creation of the characters, improv was the most important part for me, because I wanted to feel at home in those characters. I wanted to feel like I could commit to them. And so much of improv is saying yes and committing, so I think that's where the improv came in. Even if I'm saying yes to the X across the room from me, or the tennis ball on a stick, I have to stay alive.

I wanted to get everything right. I was super nerdy and academic. I got so much satisfaction out of getting good grades.