Jim Carrey is a consummate actor and professional. He comes on set, knows his lines and knows his moves.

Ron Howard is as good a person as you could want to work with on film. He never lost his cool. He's the most easygoing, lovely man, but he's got this enormous intelligence and a wonderful humanity.

Mike Nichols asked if I would do The Birdcage. Mike and I are dear friends but he had never offered me a feature role in a movie. My television career opened other doors for me.

In the early '90s, New York was a pretty depressing place.

I come from a middle-class family in Gwalior.

I was the only child born to Josephine Perry that survived. Mama had six other children before me, and all had passed very quickly and very young, all succumbing to a combination of illness and disease and the lack of strength to fight off both.

No family is complete without an embarrassing uncle.

Our whole family had been sports oriented. My dad had played a lot of semipro but never had any opportunity to do anything with it. Back then, he had to make a living.