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The actors that inspire me are the comedians and the people able to shape-shift into different roles and into different media.

There are many actors who have inspired me: Spencer Tracy for his incredible elegance and, of course, Cary Grant. But, there's also an Italian actor I admire a great deal: Alberto Sordi.

I was inspired by lots of people, certainly in acting and in writing and stuff, but I never wanted to be somebody else.

All of the actors that have served to me as inspiration over the years have been those more associated with dramatic work who have, in turn, been able to embody their characters and lose themselves in those characters that they create.

I liked Jim Carrey from the very beginning.

Inspiration can come from anywhere. But I do love actors. I wish I could drop a bunch of names, but there are just too many.

Many of the writers who have inspired me most are outside the genre: Humorists like Robert Benchley and James Thurber, screenwriters like Ben Hecht and William Goldman, and journalists/columnists like H.L. Mencken, Mike Royko and Molly Ivins.

I loved Stephen Wright, and I loved Mitch Hedberg, but they seemed like geniuses you could never emulate. You'd just be ripping them off.