There's still formulaic stuff on network television, but there's also more of an opportunity to have your way with storytelling, especially in sitcoms. That's what the difference is.
I'm really comfortable doing voice-overs, but it's really fun to do animation.
I lived in San Francisco for about eight years and I did a lot of improvisation there. The improvisational world ruled the voice world in San Francisco, so I became a voice talent there and did a lot of commercials and worked all the time. But I never could break into animation.
Now, you always know there's going to be some compromise when you're doing something for television, and especially network television.
I naturally think in terms of comedy whenever I see anything because tragedy is so close to comedy, so I like to add the tragedy to the comedy or a little bit of comedy to the tragedy in order to make them both feel more real to me.
They're amazing, these actors who have worked on soaps for years and years and years. They know what they're doing. They don't hold you word-for-word on every line and you can fudge it a little, but they know what they're saying and they repeat it every time they come on.
I'm usually sort of ambiguous in terms of whether I'm playing a good person or a bad person. I can walk that line of funny but also dark, and I'm happy doing that.
If I play one psychic, then I'm playing a psychic at least three or four more times.
It's a special kind of acting, soap opera acting. It's hard for me.
When you work with kids, you realize if they have a really good, stable family environment that they're going to be okay.
When you're going to spend a couple of weeks with people, you want to be with people that are enjoyable.
You never know how things are going to turn out.
I love to perform and I love to perform characters, and sometimes when I'm doing television and film, I just feel like I'm making a living. I'm good at it, but I'm not really being artistically challenged.
I've never done any Hallmark movies. I don't know why.
When the writing is good and it suits your character, you don't have to memorize anything, because it just makes sense. You read it and you go, "Oh, that makes sense." And it's easy.
People who work on soaps all the time understand the formula of how to do it.
