Quotes from Mike O'Malley

I'm just very interested in how we, as people, can live the right way.

A lot of times in television, it's incredibly rushed, and you're just trying to get the pace.

The reason I'm a writer is to understand other people and myself more. The reason I'm a writer is to dramatize stories about human beings so that it improves my life. So that's a very selfish thing.

People ask me why I became an actor, and the truth is that once you get cut from the baseball team, you need another angle to get women to pay attention.

There have been plenty of things that I've written that other people haven't cared about, but it hasn't stopped me from being a writer. So, I don't even think about other people. I'm just interested writing about human beings so if somebody calls and says, 'We'd like you to do it,' I'd say, 'That sounds like a cool idea.'

I had always wanted to run my own show and focus solely on the writing, and that's what 'Survivor's Remorse' has been for me.

I will talk to anybody about 'Survivor's Remorse' because I'm proud of the show and the actors and directors and the entire crew. I just like doing the work, and I want people watching the show so we can make more.

The tale of the actor struggling to make it is oft-told for a reason.

A lot of people give actors credit when they gain weight for a role in a drama when they win an Oscar, but when you're doing a sitcom, people don't give you a lot of credit, because you've got to keep your weight on for five or six years if it's successful.

Politics isn't something that really interested me; I, of course, care about what's going on in the world, but so much of political discourse now is not necessarily about doing what's right.

It's funny - sometimes people think we, as actors, have this wide range of choices of the roles we're doing, and in a lot of ways, when you're a younger actor, or just if you want to make a living in the business, you take your opportunities where they come.

There's a joy in acting that's not present in writing, but there's a gratification in writing and creating that you can't necessarily find in acting.

We know, in history, people are unable to put different elements together and create gold, yet it's what you're asking actors to do every day. You're asking them to relax enough with the confines and restrictions of the lights and the cameras, and you gotta hit this mark, to relax enough to create what seems wonderful and beautiful.

That's what I'm attracted to: how people face struggle - with humor - and how they handle tough situations in their lives and in conversations.

I can change a tire, but I couldn't change a fuse on the computer panel on my car.

It's always good to remind yourself of how awful people can be, even when they seem to be projecting kindness.

I think a family is the best way to open up the appeal of a show because everyone has a mother. Everyone has a father. Everyone has cousins or siblings. Everyone's trying to pursue their romantic ideals and their relationship ideals.

I have three kids, and I'm a coach for a lot of their sports, so I'm around them a lot, but I see friends of mine with older kids and they don't really interact so much, other than giving them a place to live.

The way that I live is in between the dual experiences of the tragedy mask and the comedy mask. I feel that I write best and think best in between those two masks.

I did the commencement speech at UNH in 2006, and one of the biggest jokes was a 'Guts' joke.

I took my job for Nickelodeon very seriously, and back then, it wasn't certainly as big of a network as it is now, culturally, and people my age didn't know much about it. But I loved my time there. I really put everything I had into doing 'Guts,' and it actually taught me a lot about how to work really hard.

I love how professional sports unite a city and a group of people.

I think what good television does well is that it shows characters evolving.

I can change a tire, but I couldn't change a fuse on the computer panel on my car.