Rule Of Storytelling: When A Character Is

I Got Into Dialogue Because My Parents Began Taking Me To See Plays From When I Was Very Young. Too Young, Often, To Understand The Play I Was Watching: Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf When I Was Nine Years Old; That Championship Season When I Was Ten Years Old. But I Loved The Sound Of Dialogue; It Sounded Like Music To Me And I Wanted To Imitate That Sound.

People Who Don't Know Anything Tend To Make Up Fake Rules, The Real Rules Being Considerably More Difficult To Learn.

I'll Get Cast Occasionally As Sort Of The Jerk Version Of Myself, And I Have Fun Doing That. But It's Really Better For Everyone If I Stay Behind The Camera.

There's That Process Of Writing It - Then You Come Out Of Your Room Into The Sunlight, And You Now Have To Complete The Circuit And Make The Connection Finally With The Audience.

Larry David Called Me And Said, "you Can Never Watch The West Wing Again. Either The Show Is Going To Be Great Without You And You're Going To Be Miserable, Or The Show Is Going To Be Less Than Great Without You And You're Going To Be Miserable." So I Had Them Send A Tape Of The First Episode That I Didn't Do. I Put It In The Vcr And I Don't Think I Got 15 Seconds In Before I Leapt Up And Slammed It Off! It Felt Like I Was Watching Somebody Make Out With My Girlfriend. I've Never Seen A West Wing Episode In Seasons Five, Six Or Seven.