"It's interesting because people assume that because I'm famous I know all famous people."

"I think it's useful, as a famous person, to have as little separation between the perception of you and how you really are - because otherwise I'd be sitting here thinking I'm keeping secrets, and wondering when you're going to find out."

"There were a few years there when I was just so enamored with the idea of living some sort of famous person's lifestyle that really isn't suited to me."

"The nerds are the ones that make the films and do loads of other really cool stuff in their life."

"I might be writing what people expect me to write, writing from that place where I might be ruled by economic considerations. To overcome that, I started working with my dreams, because I'm not so censored when I use dream material."

"It used to be that you had to make female TV characters perfect so no one would be offended by your 'portrayal' of women. Even when I started out on 'The Office' eight years ago, we could write our male characters funny and flawed, but not the women. And now, thankfully, it's completely different."

"I understand that when people read my books that there's something there - but I don't identify with it."

"My writing has to support more than my research habit, but I love to curl up with a book about some dusty corner of history."