It's always a good idea to go up for the male roles. You go up against a bunch of beefy guys, and the casting director then feels smart for taking you on, like he's the one who thought outside the box.

I'm not out to conquer anything, which I think is a good thing. That's why I also think crazy, different things come my way. I really don't have an agenda, and I'm really happy not to have one. I'm just keeping it light.

I auditioned for a one-act version of 'The Princess and the Pea' called 'The Ugly Duckling,' and I was cast as the King, starting a pattern of being cast in roles originally intended for men. I went to the first rehearsal, and I didn't get any laughs, and I choked and I quit. I walked away from it and joined the tennis team.

I had friendships with two people in my life who, when I attempted to do my habitual behavior of building a case to break up with them, wouldn't allow me to do it. They both said to me, 'I'm not going anywhere.' And that moved me so deeply.

I get the male thing. I like being that for a woman. But I also like being a woman, too. I like being girly.

I'd drop whatever I was doing to show up to do the graveyard shift of 'America's Shopping Place.'

I think my cruelty hides beneath the surface a lot more than Sue Sylvester's.

I'm like Jay Gatsby. I like to throw the party and then stand back, looking gorgeous. Stand back and watch it.

I can fool people that I was educated.

I've always sung. My dad had a song in his heart and on his lips 24/7. A lot of the time, it was the same song and the same phrase over and over again.

I've just always loved singing, and I come from a family that loves singing around the kitchen table.

From the start. As early as - I felt I was in the wrong sex; I really did. I would go into my dad's room and put on his clothes.

I wanted to - any chance I had to dress up as a boy, like Halloween, I would be a pirate or a ghost that wore a tie. A hobo.

To this day, I still would choose the angst over something easier, when I really don't have to.

I'm kind of a manic exerciser. I'll like exercise for a week and be crazy, and then I won't do it for six months.

I stopped watching television like a fiend once I got into college.

When I was a kid, we would get McDonalds on Christmas Eve, and that was a big deal because the closest one to the south side of Chicago was a 35 minute drive away. I remember opening the bag and smelling those fries, and even now when I smell them, it reminds me of Christmas Eve.

If you're contriving something, if you're making something up, it's not funny. You can tell. It's instant. It has to come from someplace real.

I've been in Chicago for every Christmas of my life.

I love Jennifer Saunders, the 'Absolutely Fabulous' creator.

I became quite a diva, and intolerant, and people knew when I was not pleased. Some people were afraid of me, and other people just kind of blew me off. But I wasn't making any friends. I only had one person who remained my friend, and he was my boyfriend for a while. Even though I told him I was gay, he was like, 'That's alright.'

Television is really fertile ground, and it's because of platforms like Netflix and Hulu and, of course, the cable channels like HBO and Showtime.

One of the few advantages to not being beautiful is that one usually gets better-looking as one gets older; I am, in fact, at this very moment, gaining my looks.

I didn't want to be gay. I wanted to be... I wanted an easy life. And you know what? I am gay, and I still have an easy life.