Justin Kirk

I have turned into a bit of a homebody as I've gotten older. I don't really like to leave the couch in Los Angeles, but when a job comes around that you feel you have to do, you get up and do it.

Ninety percent of a good performance of an actor is based on the material. If you've got the material there, you can ride it.

Even though I wanted to be John Malkovich or Sean Penn when I was a kid, mostly I was a music nerd.

I would rather be part of something that is entertaining than realistic.

There is probably some great acting that goes on in movies from people who have never been on a stage, but if you are in for the long haul, you'd be missing an enormous part of what being an actor is if you're not part of theater.

I know the one time I tried therapy, I did after a month or two, and I only lasted a few months, because I started to worry about being entertaining. I kept driving there once a week for an hour and I'm thinking 'What am I going to talk about today?'

I love dogs and cats, but I don't want to be the guy who says, 'I'm going to Brussels for a while; can you take Poochie?' Or even worse, I could be the guy who takes Poochie to Brussels with him - then I'm really in trouble.

I've really grown to love film, but I think occasionally you need to get up on a stage and see what's going on.

That's the great thing about being an actor: Stuff shows up that you never thought was going to go down. You get to play or experience an area of the world that - you know, I live a pretty simple life, I'm not much of an adventurer. I like my couch and my television. So when stuff comes up in the job, it's a good deal.

After many of years of getting cast in sweet, angelic roles, I'm finally getting to play closer to my real life as a horrible person.

The funny thing is that making a pilot is sort of an audition, at least for me. There's something psychological there, where you're sort of asking for the job while you're acting. And then when it's been picked up, it's a completely different psychological dynamic.

I think the reality-show format is brilliant, has endless possibilities. It's documentary! But unfortunately, it's rarely executed well. So it becomes just a scripted show, but without actors.