Quotes from Jane Lynch

That weird dark energy - when I was a kid, I didn't know what it was. I just had to 'thrash it out,' as my mother called it. I became quite intolerable, creatively and artistically, with other people. I wanted nothing more than to be part of a group, and yet I couldn't help alienating people.

I was filled with angst all the time, but when it came down to it, I dove into what was in front of me, and I always did my best. I invested 100 percent. And that's what saved me.

I'm like Jay Gatsby. I like to throw the party and then stand back, looking gorgeous. Stand back and watch it.

I love Jennifer Saunders, the 'Absolutely Fabulous' creator.

Along time ago I asked myself do I want to be right or do I want to be kind; I opted for kind.

I was a huge 'Friends' fan. I had a very small part. I played a real-estate agent in the very last season.

My parents felt judged by me.

I'm not out to conquer anything, which I think is a good thing. That's why I also think crazy, different things come my way. I really don't have an agenda, and I'm really happy not to have one. I'm just keeping it light.

I could be pretty volatile, especially when I didn't feel understood, which was 99 percent of the time. I do think that, as a young person, I suffered over that. But as I look back, it doesn't even feel like part of me - except when I act and need those emotions. Then I can dredge it up.

When I was a young person, when I was in high school, we did a very emotional and wonderful - for us, life-changing - production of 'Godspell.' It really, really was the highlight of my high school time, and it was for everybody else in the cast, too.

There's nothing better than voicing a character. You don't have to worry about what you're wearing; you've got the script in front of you, and it doesn't involve your body: it's all about your voice, and it's really fast work.

When you raise your voice in song to express what's going on deep inside of you, I think people just react to that because it's so truthful. It's so raw.

It has to come from a truthful place in order to be funny.

When I was younger, I actually wanted to be in the spotlight. To have people want me, want to have a piece of me.

If you're contriving something, if you're making something up, it's not funny. You can tell. It's instant. It has to come from someplace real.

I love being in these ensemble comedy movies. I love working with a bunch of people and coming up with, you know, How can we make this moment funnier?

I never thought I would work with Meryl Streep. I also love Cate Blanchett.

Football is very masculine and, to me, a metaphor for war.

When I was a kid, we would get McDonalds on Christmas Eve, and that was a big deal because the closest one to the south side of Chicago was a 35 minute drive away. I remember opening the bag and smelling those fries, and even now when I smell them, it reminds me of Christmas Eve.

I'm an actor more than anything else.

When I look back, I think I must have been hugely motivated. I would have loved for somebody to say, 'You go for it!' I just didn't have that.

I had friendships with two people in my life who, when I attempted to do my habitual behavior of building a case to break up with them, wouldn't allow me to do it. They both said to me, 'I'm not going anywhere.' And that moved me so deeply.

I've never really had specific goals and stuff like that - I think I sort of learned early on that if you kind of let life roll in at your feet, you will get a lot of great stuff if you are just aware and open to it.

I have a big family. Even though it's only three kids in our family, it's always aunts and uncles and the whole thing.