I'm not thinking about what needs to be on the radio. I'm not thinking about anything other than - I'm just going to let this music come out of me and not have any sort of preconceived notion of what I should do. I'm just going to do it.
Some people would look at a backing track as something that would confine you, but it really frees us up. It's nice not to be strapped down to a certain spot when you're trying to put on a show.
I don't like to limit myself as an actress.
The secret sauce of the business that I can offer is my creativity, and in order to keep my creativity alive and fresh, I have to pretend that no one is watching the show, that there are no audiences, there are no ratings; I'm just telling a story.
There's something to be said for being given a tremendous amount of freedom as an actor.
You kill the emotion by standardising the behaviours on court. I want authenticity. I want people to be free.
I didn't feel compromised as an actor, and allowed other people's fingerprints all over that aspect.
When I first started out in this music industry, I was most concerned with freedom. Freedom to produce, freedom to play all the instruments on my records, freedom to say anything I wanted to.
When I sing, I try to make the song my own and sing it my way because, in my mind, I am not following any school of thought. I just make myself free.
Without a band, I'm much more free to improvise.
It was more freeing, mainly because he's so free anyway. He just is in his performance. So to mimic someone doing a free performance, well, that's pretty freeing within itself.
You want to feel free. Every player can show his best when he is free. If you are a little bit afraid of something, you cannot show your best.
I sort of look at acting like that: if you have no confines, you have everywhere to go.
I think there's all these unknown things you can tap into when you just leave things open, and nothing is forbidden. Then you allow yourself to mold that thing that has been created by freedom and spontaneity and flexibility. That's why I avoid limiting performances of actors and characters.
I love independent films, it's the only place as an actor you're totally allowed to breathe.
NBC has not once given me a music note. I get the freedom to do what I want, and that's kind of amazing.
I really like doing stand-up, because it gives you an immense amount of freedom. You haven't got anyone telling you what to do. It's great to have that much power over what you do. You don't have that in television.
Improv is so freeing because there are no bounds; there's no safety net. You just say something and get an instant response.
Musically, I have little ambition. The only real ambition I have is to make music and do music whenever I feel like it, without any real ambition or planning.
I've certainly never liked the idea of being put in a box. I loved being part of shows like 'American Idiot' and 'In the Heights,' and I take pride in being able to sing different styles, not just 'Old Man River.'
I get to do all the styles of music that I love. There's no boundaries; there's nobody holding on to me saying I can't do that.
We have over an hour of footage with Ken Marino. Same with Kevin Smith. Because you never know, when you let people who are so talented at improv go, what you're going to get. You don't want to strangle them with your own words, because probably what they're going to say is way better.
I was spoiled by theater, where there is no editor.
So often, when you're an actor, you're told what to do and what to say and what to wear. Your opinion is, at best, tolerated and, at worst, not wanted.
The best part about stand-up is that you control everything. Period. When you work in movies, or on TV shows, there are 50 other people involved.
