Quotes from Corey Stoll

I grew up really into comic books, and I actually thought I was going to be a comic-book artist. That was my ambition before I realized I couldn't keep characters looking the same from panel to panel.

My parents never had to tell me about the birds and the bees, you know? It was very out in the open.

I started with superhero stuff - 'X-Men' and 'Spider-Man' and 'Batman' and 'Hellboy' - but I wasn't familiar with 'The Strain' until I started the show.

I'm an actor, in particular, that likes to have a mask or something that can help me distance myself from the character. Like the moustache or an accent.

I never really knew what to do with my hair to begin with. When I was fat, I had incredibly long, unkempt hair. And there was kind of a poetic justice to losing something I was hiding behind.

In this new world where art is willfully misinterpreted to score points and to distract, simply doing the work of an artist has become a political act.

In some ways, it's easier to be the lead. Week after week, scene after scene, the rhythms of filming force you to peel away a certain amount of artifice. When you're on set that much, there's a license to let the character emerge from the work itself.

My wife was pregnant while we were promoting 'Ant-Man,' and that was very exciting, to see, like, action figures of myself, as we're getting the nursery ready.

I think part of being masculine is not needing to prove it and not needing to answer for it.

In terms of my free time, I really don't have much. The time I do have, I enjoy being domestic and spending time with my girlfriend, hiking and playing tennis.

The good guy is only as strong as the bad guy.

When you're in a theater, it's about reaching the back rows. When you have a camera in your face, it's just about knowing the size of the room.

Good writing is everything.

You can make bad writing 'OK,' but... you really need to start with a good script and with characters that are three-dimensional and with great dialogue. It's a difficult lesson to learn because good writing is hard to come by, but it's definitely worth chasing.

I made a choice in my career to not get hair plugs and not hide the fact that I was balding, and I've managed to play all sorts of characters who have shaved heads.

After college, I was an intern at the New York Theater Workshop. In the mornings, I would build sets and hang lights, and in the afternoon, I would be the reader for auditions.

It's a challenge to turn a book series into a television series; you need to keep people on their toes, but you also want to be true to the source material.

I believe that love that is true and real creates a respite from death. All cowardice comes from not loving, or not loving well, which is the same thing.

There's a ton of stories that can come out of L.A. I actually think that even though I enjoy being in New York more, I think that L.A. is a really fascinating place.

If I could grill for breakfast, I would.

What was so brilliant about 'Girls' was that they allowed their characters to be ludicrous and selfish and faulted but didn't shy away from a deeper psychological foundation for that neuroses.

People say the 'Lost Generation' in a romantic sense, but I think it was tragic. They were really lost.

Yes, I'm a New Yorker, born and bred. While I'm not quite the L.A. snob that Woody Allen is, I do find myself happier in New York.

I was not into B-movies. A lot of it is sloppy.