My dad is from Queens. I remember visiting as a kid. My grandparents grew up here. All the actors I respected were coming out of here. All the hip-hop I was listening to - Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, Wu Tang - was coming out of New York. I'm just into it.

The thing about New York is it's like London: you want to go to the boutique places. You can go to the big department stores - Barney's, Bloomingdales and all that stuff - but I like the little stores.

I've always gone back and forth between acting and music, but for music I'm not trying to be a pop star - I just like to do it.

If a fan comes up and it is a middle-aged lady, it is probably from 'Prime'; if it is a younger girl, it is probably from when I guest-starred on 'One Tree Hill.' And if it is, like, a skateboard kid or a hipster kid, I can tell they are 'How to Make It' fans.

I flew everywhere for the first 10 years of my career, and I started to not like commercial transport. I just don't feel safe.

I did a drama degree, went to secretarial college, then got a job with a theatre company in Birmingham. It's been a slow burn, which doesn't seem to have gone out.

Writing can be a very isolating profession. By its very nature, you spend a lot of your time barricaded in your house or office, typing on your own.

Chicago's where I started my career. I've had a lot of success playing here.