Quotes from Alia Shawkat

When I wrap a job, I disconnect with it, and I'm done, even if they said we'd shoot more next year, at this time, which is not the case at all because nobody knows what's happening.

I was born and grew up in Palm Springs. It's a great place to grow up, a real small town.

We don't have a laugh track, which helped Seinfeld a lot, and did kind of tell people when to laugh. It just made it a lot easier. Our show doesn't have that, so it's hard for Middle America to catch on.

I think how I've gotten better, hopefully, at taking what I've got and being able to mish-mash something together, and as long as it feels real to me in the moment, then it feels like a success.

It's nice when you get to leave and travel and be busy and then come home.

When I'm working, I'm pretty busy with that, but when I'm not, yeah, I like to make music. I sing in jazz bars and stuff, and then I mainly paint every day. It's kind of like a different side of my mind I like to use, and it keeps the other one fresh, and yeah, writing, I've been writing with some friends.

Yeah, I've worked with a couple of female directors, now, and I think that they're amazing. As good or better than guy directors.

The millennial generation wants to express every feeling to feel like you're connected to it, and there's something very dark about tragedy that people are drawn to.

With independent film, as an actor, you have more involvement - it's very much more connected. It's not just like I'm showing up and there's another actor on the call sheet; you're very attached to it.

Kids can be harsh, especially when they get jealous.

When I was in New York, I put together a show; I put together this really great band and performed at this place called Littlefield in Brooklyn. It was really fun. I did, like, 10 standards, and then I just hopped around different bars like Mona's and different jazz clubs in New York just singing because I know all the standards so well.

I hope to be painting more and travelling. Maybe fall in love. Have a dog one day. You know, all the good things.

When I get a new script my mom will read them and just be aghast. I think it's hysterical.

If your friend's feeling bad, it's hard to know what to do. Do you back away or try to help them? It's a really hard situation that I've been in. You want to support your friend. You want to be there. My advice is, don't get too involved with it, just be by their side. If they need your help, they'll ask for it.

Right when I turned 18, I moved to New York, originally for school, and then dropped out and just lived in New York.

I feel very lucky 'Arrested Development' was so successful because I never really got too much attention, and I was able to evolve instead of only being seen as one character.

I would do a movie musical.

It would be great to do theater one day, but I don't think I'd do a musical.

I've been reading scripts where they've been doing a lot of singing now, but within the dark, realistic story line. I would love, love, love, love to do that. But not a musical on Broadway, I don't have that kind of energy or stamina.

We're not going to dumb down for them. They have to move up. They're the network and we're the show.

If we give something value, it becomes valuable.

When you focus on life, on enjoying and connecting with other people, that's when work comes. When you focus on work, you can never work. I'm always going through waves of that.

I go into work and get my hair and makeup done, go into wardrobe. I have to do three hours of school a day.

I'm more verbal and not as private as I was as a kid. I still do a form of sense memory. It honestly depends on the job. It depends on the other people you're working with, how the other actor works.