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If I took my characters home with me, half of my life would be a misery, I think. No, I tend to compartmentalize work from my life. I'm not terribly method.

There are certainly times when my own everyday life seems to retreat so the life of the story can take me over. That is why a writer often needs space and time, so that he or she can abandon ordinary life and 'live' with the characters.

After I play every character, I always walk away and feel a little different. I've experienced something that's not my life, but I've made it my life.

I get very involved in my characters. Sometimes I have a very hard time separating my characters from my life.

My main question that I ask of my characters is, 'What does it feel like to be you? And how do you get through the day? Where do you find the hope and faith to endure getting through the days, and what are your days like?'

I've worked all my life to shed myself of any character.

I think in many ways, I'm sort of a blank canvas, because in many ways, I'm just observing the world and the people around me and their characters and letting them kind of explode off me and to find out why they're doing what they're doing. But then every once in awhile, I get to take on a whole new character.

I'm not saying that I am all of my characters, but for me to bring a character to life, you've got to be able to find your own truth.