Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
One thing I wanted to say in my Tony speech, which I didn't because I forgot what I was doing because I couldn't believe the view from where I was standing, was that I really, truly believe in an investment in young people in the arts. It is an investment in a more beautiful world.
The older I've gotten, and the more that I've worked, I cherish that I'm an Ohio boy because, at the end of the day, I believe that I'm a talented person; I believe that I work really hard, but I think that the main reason I'm successful is because I'm kind, I'm easy to work with, and I'm a team player.
To be an actor, it's really tough to find your own voice because you're always tied to other characters and going to auditions and trying to get a job, hoping they'll pick you. And I think it's just so important for an actor to have something else that's creative, something that's creative and you're in charge of.
When I did 'Thoroughly Modern Millie,' it was almost every 'first' I could have imagined: I dreamt someday being on Broadway, and then dreamt someday playing a lead on Broadway, and then dreamt someday of getting to originate a role, and then getting a Tony nomination. It all happened at once. I was just terrified.
Watching President Obama, for the first time in my life, one of us was running for president. He seemed like one of us - and I got behind him, and I got excited about his message and what he continues to say he's going to do. The day he was elected president, Prop 8 happened. It was this bizarre dichotomy - world history - good and bad.
I was really proud to be in that show. I will never forget. I got the script to 'Millie,' and I'm flipping through the script and saying, 'Boy, I have some lines... I have a big song.' I was 25 years old and had never been on Broadway before. I got to the end of the script, and I was really nervous and excited. I realized I had a lot to do.
You put these politicians in office, but then you've got to tell them what you want them to do. And it's intimidating to most people. I was intimidated by it. I mean, calling my senator or writing my senator? I'm like, what do I say? What do I do? But we're showing people that the political process is actually less intimidating than we think.