Sam Richardson

My mom is from Ghana, and my dad is from the States, so even in my family when I was growing up, my mom said I was the American one, and my dad said I was the weird African one.

Performing in Detroit or performing in Chicago, you're on your own turf, but when you tour a show, the audiences change. You're in a completely different space; sensibilities change. I think I learned a lot from doing that - how written material works in different places, learning to have confidence, learning the idea of how to be adaptable.

At Second City and improvising at iO, you're creating a character in an instant. All of a sudden, you're creating this history and this past for your character, and you're discovering it while you're doing it, and that's part of the fun of it.

On 'Veep,' people are connecting with each other, even if they're making backhanded comments about somebody behind someone else's back.

My mom is from Ghana, and my dad is from Detroit, so I would go back and forth to Africa a lot.

I was a shy kid up until the sixth grade, and then I started to let loose.

I'm really the only artist in my family. I have one cousin who is a painter. I think I developed all of that from television and books - from being, essentially, an only child. I'm my mom's only child and my dad's fourth child, but separated by 14 years.

Being on 'Veep,' it's so much fun, and I get to put so much creative input in there, but at the end of the day, what they say, I do.

The most interesting thing about characters are their blind spots. They miss the periphery.

Like a real dumb idiot, I believed that to avoid a grenade that drops in the water, you could just jump in the water, and you'd be fine.

I really enjoy 'Baskets.' I'm a big fan of 'Archer' and 'Mr. Robot.'

There's no place I love more than Detroit.