There's moments when you have to make a split-second decision that will form you for the rest of your life.
Dash Mihok
There are networks and executives who are willing to take risks on vastly different material, and as an actor, there are some really juicy roles to sink your teeth into.
A lot of talented people have some quirks, y'know? And bless them for that. I'd rather have Tourette's than be someone boring.
Here's the thing: I had never been to Boston, my whole life. Probably because I'm a Yankee fan.
I had this tic where I touch my mouth to my knee, and I'm always screwing up my back. I've had two shoulder surgeries. My doctor just smiles and laughs at me.
It's challenging to take on something else that is not you and make it very real and have others be able to associate with it. It's wonderful to provoke thought.
I have been making hip-hop since I was a kid growing up in New York in the '80s and '90s. It's always been a hobby of mine - I've been making beats and writing songs for as long or longer than I've been acting.
One of my favorite movies is 'Some Like It Hot,' which isn't really a musical, but I'm just such a sucker for old movies. I wouldn't want to ever tarnish one of them, or do a spot-on remake, but just do something light like that where I get to glide across the floor. I would be a very happy camper.
People believe that if you can shut your Tourette's off for a period of time, then you can always shut it off. I try to explain to people that if I spent my whole life trying to control my tics, that's all I would have time for.
I've have a number of violent tics. With Tourette syndrome, there's not just compulsive actions, but compulsive thoughts as well. That used to scare my mother a lot.
To have someone inspire you to be who you are and be unapologetic about it, it's beautiful.
Tourette's has always been a tough one for many to digest because of its seeming irrationality: 'Why do you have to twitch or make noises? You seem normal, with no physical defects.' It's next to impossible to answer without living it.
A lot of us have done bullying and didn't even realize we did it.
In the years when teenagers really need to be connected to somebody, they aren't; especially in small towns where kids are bored and look for something to get them going.
I don't know if I ever realized, initially, that I didn't tic when I was so focused on my acting. I think it was after I had already done it a few years, when I went, 'Hey, interesting that this happens.'
I would love to do a Fred Astaire/Gene Kelly type movie musical - a fun, song and dance, romantic comedy. Or, even just play the lead in one of those broad comedies - that would just be fantastic.
My first tic was to shake my head violently. I was in karate class, and I was shaking violently. All of a sudden, I just started to notice that the teacher was looking at me, and all the kids were wondering what I was doing. I suddenly felt really strange.
Auditioning is one of the most nerve-racking things you could ever do, but you have to be so focused that you don't tic.
I think that the reason I became an actor, probably, underneath it, was that I spent my life acting normal.
I spent my life figuring out ways to make the room OK with me.
School was very difficult. I was conscious of how I looked.
Tourette's is involuntary in that it is impossible not to do. And it's torture to know what you're doing and not be able to stop it.
With Tourette's, there's this element of vulnerability and compassion and empathy that you innately possess because of the affliction.
When I'm acting and I have to remember my lines and put my mind in concert with my body, I don't tic.
It's very important that we do show appreciation for those who go to work in raising awareness. You know, Tourette Syndrome is not well known. There's not a lot of government money and research in it. But people are dying inside every day because they're suffering with it, and I think word needs to get out.
Acting is a stressful environment to put yourself into, and stress triggers Tourette's, but I think it's partly an outlet because when I'm acting, I'm putting my mind, body, and soul into something, and that's one of the times during the day when I don't tic.
I think acting is therapeutic for me.
I would absolutely love to do another Baz Luhrmann film, especially a 'Moulin Rouge' type picture.
If I can just accept it and tic when I want to and have my passion project - what I'm mentally, physically, emotionally invested in something - where you're fully focused, and your body parts and mind are all moving toward this one goal, you're focused, and you can shut it off, but only for a certain period of time. Then, you have to let loose.
I love it behind the camera as much as I do in front.
I've been to some Hollywood parties where things have happened, and people have probably needed to get a good lawyer.
I don't think I've ever done a real mini-series, but I love doing film first and foremost.
The great thing about Showtime is that they really give us leeway and the range to explore the real dark side of stuff.
I've seen a shift in general about the literacy of the public to what Tourette's is. And that's a testament to local kids and parents having the courage to share their experience.
Every moment in life can be interpreted as a risk, depending on our outlook - and level of obsessive- compulsive disorder! I do my best to depend on my gut. If you sit with a decision long enough, your gut/soul will tell you what path to take.
The greatest acting really is spoken without words, or at least I like to think that.
I want to go play a villain or an action hero or a nice, light, romantic comedy or something. That would be good.
I think there's always an adjustment when somebody new is runnings things, from the top down.
