AMY RYAN

If your body is excited to do something, that's what you should be doing. Or if it really scares you, you should be doing it.

When I was growing up I actually was into Bon Jovi!

I know how to separate my own laundry.

You know, I don't think, you know, therapy never ends, really.

First of all, the actor needs to get out of the character's way. You follow the character without judgment or prejudice or preconceived ideas.

I find that all great directors, and I would include Ben Affleck and Clint Eastwood in that, they have great confidence. And with great confidence comes great freedom for the actor.

I will admit, it's so intoxicating working with Steve Carrell. Creatively and professionally.

I can really laugh at myself and make a fool out of myself.

I come from a working-class background in Queens, New York.

I really don't have a problem showing the ugly side of people. If that means my wearing no makeup, that's fine. To me, that's beautiful.

'The Wire,' I was such a fan of that show the first season - I think that's the best-written show on TV.

It's funny to see the finished product of a movie, stuff that's so beautiful, and to remember the particulars.

There are certain things you learn to do as a parent - using every single part of your body because you're multitasking all the time. You're holding the baby and you're closing the door with your left foot.

There are so many choices I made simply for health insurance. Is it the ideal role I wanted to play, or the TV show I wanted to be a part of? No, but it let me afford to go to the doctor.

One of the great perks of being an actor is you're only as smart as the job you're in, you know, and you're only as informed as the job you're in, and you do become an expert, and you read all the books, but then there's a part of, like, you move on.

It's fun to play happy people.

Usually in stories there are big problems in the beginning or couples are pulling away, there's a lot of bitterness.

I'd love to do a costume drama movie. For no other reason, except that it sounds fun to me.

I'm so fortunate in that I've never had another job to pay a bill but acting, since the day I got out of high school.

Being an actor, we're so dependent on the writers.

The Tonys are also kind of like a homegrown party. You know everybody.

Some jobs you do - maybe you don't - are jobs that pay mortgages and some are art and I don't care about not being paid on those.

It's deeply personal to watch actors go to those dark places. It can be scary, so you channel them all your love and energy, and you know you'll be safe on the other side.

When you're on a movie and the production department says, "We need old photographs of you - your character - when you were 20-years-old." I usually tell them it's in storage or I had a fire. I go back to these old photos and there's never a good photo or they're of times that I'm so glad I'm out of. They have nothing to do with the character that you're playing, so it feels false. That's one of the hardest things for me in terms of looking back.

It happens a lot, but I also think of it as not so much like being abandoned by a director 'cause they're worried about a technical aspect, but I think actually that's my job.