I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but for me, it's about pushing to the point where I can be Mark Walhberg, Ryan Murphy, or Shonda Rhimes. I want to be at that table in terms of bringing new voices in.
When Shonda Rhimes calls, you feel like you get called into the principal's office a little bit, and you think, 'Maybe I better take that call.'
Shonda Rhimes, especially, saw something in me that no one had and then wrote to my strengths for 'Grey's Anatomy.' That's the job I think really opened up a whole new world for me.
I believe that Ryan Murphy is a genius. His instincts remind me of Andy Warhol. I recently went to the Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, and you can see a lot of echoes of Andy in Ryan’s work. Like Andy, Ryan’s finger is so on the pulse of culture that he’s ahead of culture. Their aesthetic and their vision of the world are very similar.
I believe that Ryan Murphy is a genius. His instincts remind me of Andy Warhol. I recently went to the Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, and you can see a lot of echoes of Andy in Ryan's work. Like Andy, Ryan's finger is so on the pulse of culture that he's ahead of culture. Their aesthetic and their vision of the world are very similar.
I already knew, of course, about the juggernaut that is Shonda Rhimes and the cultural significance of her.
When you're talking about people like Shonda Rhimes, Vince Gilligan or Beau Willimon, you're talking to people who are notable and celebrities in their own right. People want to know how their brains work.
All I remember is being like, 'Oh, that's Shonda Rhimes,' and getting a bit nervous.
I've met Shonda Rhimes a few times, and certainly she's an inspiration for me in television.
One of the many things I love about working with Ryan Murphy is that you're always thin-sliced in this business. You walk into a room and people want you to be how you look or how you're perceived or whatever it is in that 10 minutes that hey meet you. I think Ryan [Murphy] has an intuition that looks a little bit deeper and sees things that other people might not see in you - sometimes you might not even see in yourself - but that he knows are there and that he might want to get to grow and stretch with as an actor.
Ryan Murphy just gives new people a shot, and it takes a lot of confidence and generosity to do that.
My hat's off to Shonda Rhimes.
Shonda Rhimes is at the top of television.
There's a lot of progress happening in TV. You have amazing shows like 'How to Get Away With Murder.' You have people like Shonda Rhimes, Lee Daniels with 'Empire,' and Jason Katims with 'Friday Night Lights' and 'Parenthood.' You have people behind the scenes writing complex women.
To work for Shonda Rhimes is heaven. It's been amazing.
'Girls' is one of my favorite shows of all time. One of the things I love about Lena Dunham and Jenji Kohan and Shonda Rhimes is that they're all willing to show complex, amazing women.
I think Shonda Rhimes came to change television for women forever.