Quotes from Zach Woods

If you talk in a way that is too dissimilar to the character, when people are showing up to see you talk about the show, often it seems like it's jarring to them.

The parts of people that are the most lovable is usually the thing they're least willing to share: the tender, vulnerable side of people that's endearing and magnetic and lovable - that's the part they hide.

If you don't allow your aggression or negative feelings to be expressed in your waking life, then it migrates into your subconscious.

When improv is bad, it's excruciating to watch, and to be involved with it is a unique type of torture.

It's funny; I think I'm at a level of recognizability - is that even a word? - where it's just really nice. I think when people are really famous, it can be hard for them because they feel like it's an invasion. But for me, it's just a few times every day when someone will say something sweet and validating, and it's just the best.

If I was a part of secret ninja group my power would be the power of apology. I would just apologize emphatically and freely. And my mech might just be a phone to send apologetic emails from.

I've played a lot of characters who are creeps or weirdos, with a deep darkness underneath the surface.

Sometimes you read pilots and, understandably, they're doing such a frantic tap dance for approval. I get why - it's such an incredibly competitive market.

Just the number of people - 'Silicon Valley''s a relatively small, core cast, whereas 'The Office' was enormous. Also, I feel more of a sense of ownership of 'Silicon Valley' because I've been there from the get-go.

I don't know anything about tech, but I do know something about slightly socially crippled and overly cerebral guys.

'The Office' was such a great first job.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a musician. I used to play the trumpet. I practiced all the time, but I got braces and I couldn't play it anymore, so I had all of this free time.

I don't think anyone is hiring me because I look like Chris Hemsworth.

I'm a very anxious person, and it's hard for me to be in the moment. Improv demands that you be in the moment.

If I'm doing comedy, I try to improvise a lot. Even if they don't use it, it helps me loosen up and figure out the character.

It's always fun to improvise.

Yeah, I played with LEGOs. We had LEGOs, Lincoln Logs, and Playmobil, and they all occupied the same space. I guess that's fairly common. I'm saying this as if it's a bizarre phenomenon that we had a toy chest.

I would love to do a drama. I did a couple of episodes of The Good Wife, which is more of a drama. I really liked that; I thought it was interesting. A lot of my favorite comedies play out as dramas.

When I was a kid, my father would read Neil Simon plays with me, when I was going to bed, as bedtime stories.

By the end of high school, I would do shows at the theater at night and then take the train home and go to school the next morning.

I think a challenge with every sitcom is, how do you maintain things that people are attached to without becoming so reiterative that it just feels like you're sort of watching a reenactment of previous episodes?

Sometimes you'll see people give performances in comedy with an ironic detachment where they'll sort of be remarking on the character from outside of it. They're sort of commenting as they're playing the character. I think it's hard not to do that. I've certainly done that.

I think I gravitate towards characters who are slight outsiders.

I think in movies, in television, and in advice columns, often there's this idea that what people are really attracted to is confidence. And I think people, especially young men, sometimes misinterpret that to mean being brash, or trying to be an alpha.