LAURA BENANTI

I think that every therapist that I know, including my dad and my sister, have their own issues. But that empathy is what makes them good at their job.

My mother was an actress and my voice teacher, an incredible voice teacher. My biological father is an actor, and my stepfather, who raised me along with my mother, is a psychotherapist. I was always supported in creative ventures.

I don't think theater is dying, and musicals are a great American art form. We've got apple pie, jazz and musical theater.

Well, I'm grateful for all the experiences that I've had.

Of course I wanted an agent from the time I was like 5, but my mother was like, 'No, you're going to be normal, you're going to go to school, you're going to get good grades, you're going to play soccer, and if you do well, if you keep your grades up, you can do one community-theater show a year.'

My parents were in 'Brigadoon' on Broadway when I was a couple of years old.

I was always a little adult. Even as a little kid, I just couldn't understand why I was surrounded by all these kids. I took things very seriously.

There's a lot of pressure on Broadway. There's this feeling that the show has to be a commercial success and the producers have to make their money back and Tonys and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Do I want to write a musical? No. I like to do musicals.

I actually enjoy Britney Spears. Not as a singer but as a performer. I just enjoy watching her. I think, 'You are so brave.'

I do think musical-theater actors can get a bad rap, and I see why. There is a certain slickness - there's nothing better than an amazing musical, but an okay musical can be one of the worst times you've ever had.

I try to give the appearance that I have it all together and that I know what I'm talking about, but at the end of the day, I think I might be full of crap.

I was not a fan of the Bush administration, as I think many of us were not.

I was a little girl who grew up idolizing musical-theatre stars.

I'm very grateful for social media. I think it has shown people my true nature, and through that has come a book deal, and I think it certainly contributes to people's view of me as a person with a sense of humor, which is only helpful in my industry.

For me, even if I'm singing to a very large audience, like in 'The Sound of Music Live' or in the 'She Loves Me' broadcast, I try to imagine that I am just singing to each individual. It doesn't change my energy other than being perhaps a bit more nervous. I try to sing to each person and right into their individual heart.

I was pregnant, and, like, 'Being a mom's going to be easy!' And now I'm like, 'Great.'

It's always fun to play someone who is a little off. Normal is a little boring.

Usually, in musical theater, if you sing operatically or if you sing in a legit style, you're the heart of the show. You maybe get to be moving and do dramatic stuff, but it's very rare to be that funny.

A lot of times, when you're the leading lady, you get to sing heartwarming songs and that's it, and people don't get a sense of who you truly are.

I love doing concerts. For me, it's the favorite thing I do. I get to communicate with the audience in a direct way.

For me, Kate McKinnon can do no wrong. She is an absolute genius. She's a hero of mine. Melissa McCarthy is hilarious.

Most people don't even get to be on TV, so I got to be on TV a bunch of times... I feel so lucky that I get to go back and forth between television and theater.

I do think that having the villain be a woman is just as feminine, because we're not just saying, 'Women are wonderful and made of marshmallows,' but women can be anything. They can be amazing superheroes, or they can be dastardly villains, and everything in between.

I think we've become a TV culture, where we forget the live performer in front of us can see us. I think there is a self-centeredness that happens. There's nothing more important than what you are doing in that moment. So, unless it's an emergency, put your phone away.