Having spent a lot of time on sets, I was really interested in the overall storytelling aspect of shows and projects.
Tom Verica
Myself, I happen to be married to an African-American woman, and we're together 17 years. We took a few trips to the South 15 years ago, and we were sobered by some of the reactions people had - how subtle or not-so-subtle their reactions were.
Audiences have become so much more sophisticated, and they're looking for different eyes and different ways to tell a story. And 'Scandal' certainly gives us the freedom to take those chances.
Right before 'American Dreams,' I started to pursue these avenues, like short films and getting into a couple night courses to really study photography and cinematography, and the language of visual storytelling.
I started my career as an actor, but I've been a director for 15 years now.
Most shows are normally 40 or 50 pages.
I can put on my resume: 'Can play dead.'
I guess that is a good compliment for an actor for people to hate you wherever you go.
Most of my work had been in theater, and I was jumping not just into television but 'L.A. Law,' which had all these megastars in it.
If we had a perfect world, we can do 'Scandal' during the day and 'Murder' at night - that's the optimal thing.
I played in 'From the Earth to the Moon,' working with Tom Hanks. He is a great guy, very smart.
I am definitely most proud of 'American Dreams.'
My family is very close. I can't say that about many people I meet in Hollywood.
I remember seeing this picture my mother had of Dick Clark. It didn't inspire me to be an actor or anything, but when I did 'American Dreams' with Dick Clark, my mother came out, and she showed him this picture of them that was taken 35 years earlier. It was great.
There are days when I am just dead on the floor, and I'm there in my makeup, and that's getting a little tiring.
