Quotes from Jason Gann

The last few years I've had to force myself to go out and be more involved the world because I can get a bit more cerebral and escape into characters and the world of characters. But now I guess I escape into stories about 'Wilfred.'

The acting is more of a secondary thing for me now. I will be in it, if I'm the best man for the job, but it really is about creating characters and shows.

So many young pets burn out in Hollywood, it's crazy.

I do have a couple of pets, but I am determined to keep them out of the media spotlight.

My dad was in the army so we moved around a lot and I changed schools every year and had to make new friends, and I found that if I was the funny guy I could do that easier.

Eventually, I want to be a creative producer that isn't in things. The acting is more of a secondary thing for me now.

I've always been fairly confident in my acting.

I had a good theater career for years. I played Hamlet when I was 22, and I've played some really great roles.

I've been insane for a long time. An ex-girlfriend of mine once asked, "Is it true that all comedians are depressed?," and I said, "Every one I know is."

You can maybe be artistic and really original and creative, but as long as it's got that funniness at the root of it, then certain people are going to love it just because they need a laugh.

British comedy - which has been a big inspiration to me for many years - is very different to Australian comedy and different again to American comedy.

My dad was in the army so we moved around a lot and I changed schools every year and had to make new friends, and I found that if I was the funny guy I could do that easier.

The moment I do any puppy dog acting, I think the joke is dead. It's in the truth of how I play it, and the real painful honesty that I approach my performance with.

Back in Australia, I did foster care for sick cats for years, and I was always most successful with the animals when I was given two - a brother and sister.

Dogs are more of a responsibility than kids - you can send a kid off to their grandparents or a nanny, but with a dog you can't do that.

I see something that seems like standard fare, that I can imagine any number of actors playing, and I'm generally not interested.

There are no real guidelines or maps in Australia as to how to write a show, whereas in Hollywood it's where the TV industry is created and there's a lot of work that goes into development.

I came to America so that I could work with the best and be the best.

I really wanted to work in the American industry because it's the leading industry. It's where film and television started.

I'm sort lucky in that for me, I'm a writer now. I started as an actor but I'm a writer and so things like 'Wilfred' and shows like that are where I escape to.

To open the majority of peoples' minds to something new is difficult. I always think that, as long as it's funny underneath, then you can argue that a teaspoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

I always found it really funny when actors would come offstage, smoking cigarettes and swearing at each other.

I think that you can make a drama and have it be intensely funny, and vice versa.