I invested, and I protected myself, so I enjoy that freedom.

Nothing is set up like a comedy bit. I did sitcoms for 10 years. Literally from 1989 to 1999. That's almost all I did. Whenever I got away from television I was like, "Phew, thank God that's over. I am never going back."

I've been an admirer of Helen Mirren for a long time. As I get older, I find myself admiring older women who have poise and elegance.

I've been a writer longer than I've been an actor. I wrote short stories like crazy when I was in high school and college. I worked in advertising before I moved to L.A. to pursue acting.

I invested, and I protected myself, so I enjoy that freedom.

But I certainly know a lot of people that existed at that level and are always kind of pining for more, always thinking that the next big break, the next opportunity, the big role are just around the corner of the next audition.

Any tendency to design for design's sake, to create a pattern within which the owner must live according to rules set by the designer, is headed for frustration, if not disaster.