I'm a huge David Wain fan. He's one of my best friends now, but he just makes me laugh continually, much to the annoyance of his wife.
I don't consider myself a comedian because I don't really concern myself too much with jokes.
I never thought of myself as a comedic actor. I didn't go to Second City, that's not my background, I'm not a comic, I studied theater and my career when I started was a lot of dramatic stuff.
To me some of the funniest movies would be probably categorized in the dramatic genre, and likewise some of the most dramatic films, or films that have the most dramatic moments, are in comedies.
At my core, I'm a Midwesterner.
I don't really think in terms of genre, I think in terms of story and character.
I'm not a comedian. I didn't study sketch comedy; my background isn't that.
We all have different sides of our personalities, so I'd love to play some more different parts too.
My sense of stand up comedy would be so esoteric.
I think there's something great and generic about goldfish. They're everybody's first pet.
There's a very specific thing you can do to get in magazines. I'm much happier to just show up and do the job. I haven't taken the active approach to making myself a star. I haven't been in a blockbuster.
There's something great about the idea of working the land and living communally. That's healthy. That's good.
I'm sure that my wanting to be an actor had to do with a need for approval.
Marriage is like a tense, unfunny version of Everybody Loves Raymond, only it doesn't last 22 minutes. It lasts forever.
Nothing is ever cut-and-dried. There's anguish behind everything.
Oh, the weather outside is weather.
Why would anyone be an actor if he or she weren't insecure? That's why anybody pursues this kind of work.
The truth is, there are so many terrific places in New York because it's the greatest city in the world, and there are so many fascinating places to see that, frankly, it's humbling.
My definitions of comedy, drama, and straight man are all blurry for me. I don't think of it in those terms.
To try and sustain a performance is always a challenge. Anything you work on, to try and be real and show up and not look as if I'm playing pat to anything is always work.
What's weird is that anybody can write anything, and once it goes online, it's permanent. My very first biography on IMDb, which was written by a manager I had at the time, was not true.
I'm, uh, not proud to say it - I play fantasy baseball. It's, like, the dorkiest thing ever.
I'm not actively seeking stardom. I just go to auditions, and I knock on wood.
I think that I identify with my role in pretty much everything I have tried to do. I try to find something that I can understand about each character's behavior.
I grew up in a lot of different places, mostly in Kansas, I really started thinking seriously about acting in high school; I just did it better than most of the other activities in school.
I've been naked in a lot of my movies. There's something inherently funny about the naked male body, particularly mine.
I grew up in the Midwest, where people seem to be friendly and nice to one another. There is less stress than in some of the other cities.
I don't find the characters I've played funny. The characters are actually taking their situations very seriously.
'Ant-Man' was a genre, I guess, that I hadn't really tackled before.
People do still mention 'Clueless' to me. I'm proud and happy that I was in it.
It's nice to be in anything that anybody sees or likes. If it's something that has lasted, it's great.
I hated 'Top Gun.'
Personally - and I don't mean to brag - my jokes have been falling flat for most of my life.
'Divorce Court' is a great show.
I'm surprised that I get to be in the same room with half the people that I'm working with.
Early on, I decided I would see if I could make a career work on my own terms.
Awkwardness is such a gold mine for comedy.
Kiss is a super - they are total businessmen. They pride themselves on it.
Amy Poehler, Amy Sedaris - they're both genius.
My wife is very stealth-funny. She'll come out with something when I'm not expecting it, and it'll just kill me.
I think Ellen DeGeneres is just hysterical.
Anything traumatic in my life I've always dealt with through jokes and comedy.
I'm a big fan of not working.
I don't feel like a dork, but I certainly have many moments of nerdism, and I embrace it wholeheartedly. I've always cottoned to that crowd more, anyway.
There is a major part of who I am that does not feel like the alpha male.
Comedy-wise, I think Chris Elliott is one of the funniest people.
I went to college and studied theater; I went to a theater conservatory. I live in New York because I wanted to do plays and still do plays.
I've always loved David Letterman. There was an irreverence to his show that I remember, especially in 'Late Night' - it always seemed so fresh.
I find many of the people that I've worked with to be incredibly funny.
Alex Smith is - I think he is a winner, and he's a smart quarterback, and I'm a fan of his.
A lot of people say, 'What's the worst part about being an actor?' And the worst part is that you're not a musician.
There are so many really good comedians, and I would never be as good as they are. It's not my calling.
Who knows what critics are thinking? I know that you make more of a name for yourself, make more of an interesting review, if you're kind of mean-spirited.
There's something great about the idea of working the land and living communally. That's healthy. That's good.
I think I used comedy as a mechanism: if I could make the other kids laugh, I wouldn't get beaten up or teased as much.
In eighth grade, I wore a tie to school every day. I didn't own jeans. But it wasn't a granola thing, it was really more of an INXS thing.
I used to ask my mom to try and shave my head on the sides to give me a receding hairline because Adam Ant had one.
You can make a lot of mistakes with hair because it grows back.
I'd like to do something dramatic or a different kind of role, but I tend not to separate comedy and drama all that much.
I would say, up until 'Anchorman,' I wasn't any kind of household name or anything, but I wasn't necessarily identified as much with being a comedian.
I am so appreciative I have been able to continue not only doing something I love, but working on movies I've loved.
I always try and hold to that saying, 'I want to work on things I'd want to see.' The vast majority, that's been true.
I don't have an agenda where I do a comedy and say, 'I have to do a drama next,' or 'I am looking for an action movie now.'
I've been friends with Elizabeth Banks since 'Wet Hot American Summer.'
I laugh much more during takes than I do during real life. Maybe because you're not supposed to. I've ruined many takes because I will lose it.
People have all different kinds of marriages. Whatever works for you.
I think most marriages, mine included, you're constantly tending the garden, constantly working at it.
I know a lot about the Titanic. My dad was a Titanic expert.
'Anchorman' was never supposed to be a popular, like, hit movie. That movie was a cheap movie - it felt like we were working on a weird independent comedy in a way.
I think there's something kind of good about growing up in a place you know is not the cool place to be. I think it's good for your head.
Tea has always been a big thing in my life. And I'm not talking about Liptons with lemon or iced tea, or any of that nonsense. Has to be hot PG Tips with milk.
There's a lot of people I would be more than a little overwhelmed by and thrilled to work with.
Growing up, I was certainly drawn to comedy, but my goal was just to be as well-rounded an actor as possible. I really liked Daniel Day-Lewis, and I thought, 'Oh, he's a good guy to try and emulate.'
When I was in my early twenties, I used to grow all sorts of very weird beards. All of them awful in retrospect. I had Civil War beards for a while, then Mennonite beards.
I wasn't one of those kids who was like, 'I want to be an actor.' It wasn't in my wheelhouse at all. I wasn't from a family that did this or in a place where people did this.
I love straight guys that seem gay. I'm a little like that.
I have trouble with long-term things. I tend to get obsessed with stuff and then move on. Roles, songs, video games. That's why I was afraid of marriage. Because it was like a lifelong game of 'Madden.'
Sometimes I think I'm funny. But then sometimes I see myself, and I think, 'There's somebody trying to be funny.'
Fear is what makes comedy funny.
If someone made fun of me, I'd be bummed out. But I'd play it like I thought it was hilarious.
Willie Nelson is the perfect person, it seems to me, to think about. Because something tells me that he operates on his own frequency.
My parents were married my whole life until my father passed away a few years ago.
Nothing is ever cut-and-dried. There's anguish behind everything.
I'm sure that my wanting to be an actor had to do with a need for approval.
At my core, I'm a Midwesterner.
I don't consider myself a comedian because I don't really concern myself too much with jokes.
I can, and do, walk the street. No one bothers me or anything, because most people wouldn't know who I am.
Theater is the most enriching and thrilling thing to do as an actor.
There's a very specific thing you can do to get in magazines. I'm much happier to just show up and do the job. I haven't taken the active approach to making myself a star. I haven't been in a blockbuster.
Whatever I'm working on, the character I'm playing tends to slowly bleed into my own real life. Not in any kind of creepy, Method actor-y kind of way - it's just an innate kind of merging.
It's not often that you get to play somebody that has absolutely no cynicism or is not judgmental in any way.
Humor is the most important thing in life. It trumps everything else, and it's the only thing that helps me deal with everything else.
To me, some of the funniest movies would be probably categorized in the dramatic genre, and likewise, some of the most dramatic films, or films that have the most dramatic moments, are in comedies.
I can talk about sports and stuff, but I have a season pass for 'Antiques Roadshow' on my TiVo.
I went through a phase where I thought it was really funny to make pratfalls in very crowded places. I jumped out of a moving car once, for a laugh. That was a mistake.
I'm a huge David Wain fan. He's one of my best friends now, but he just makes me laugh continually, much to the annoyance of his wife.
I do like the idea that tomorrow I might find out that I'm going to be doing something that is completely unknowable today. I think it forces you to live in the moment in a very good way.
Anybody that's going on a road trip and doesn't really want to get into a myriad of snacks is probably no one you want to get in the car with.
I think there's something great and generic about goldfish. They're everybody's first pet.
All I really wanted to be was a working actor.
I really tried for a while to go with the Adam Ant look.
My bar mitzvah, I went to my nan's, and she made kugel.
