Allison Tolman

I guess my interest in performance has evolved and changed many times over the years.

I did a 20-minute selection of scenes from the play 'Spring Awakening' in college, well before the musical came around, so when the musical was becoming a hot thing, and I was reading interviews with Duncan Sheik about how he came to do the music, I think it's interesting.

I moved to Chicago when I was 28, and I wasn't completely idealistic about going to Second City and making a living from comedy, but I knew it would be great for the resume.

It's scary to not know when your next job is coming, and that is a daily fear when you are trying to act full-time.

I've never had money before in my life. Ever. Never, ever.

I originally wanted to stay in Chicago as long as I could. I love Chicago. I don't love L.A. I don't want to leave Chicago.

I've met a lot of really friendly people who are incredibly happy for me, which is really flattering and humbling.

I tend to play nurses and waitresses and policewomen.

Most of the time you spend filming a show is time you spend without the cameras on, when you're not acting.

I'm from Texas, and Texas has a reputation that far precedes actual Texas, and it is irritating sometimes.

I don't think you realize how often on television people are not like anyone we know or have known.

If you only live in the world of the actor, and if you only live in the world of auditions, etc., then you don't really have a whole lot to offer when it comes to playing the humans that you're trying to audition for.

Improv training allows you to get out of your head a little bit and take more risks, which is something I would like to continue to improve upon.

I went to New York for the first time when I was in college for a school trip and, uh, it did not appeal to me. It was too much hustle and bustle.

I did a lot of commercial and theater work when I got out of school and was living in Dallas, and I moved to Chicago to go through the Second City Conservatory Program.

I grill, like, every day.

What is right is not always popular.

I liked in television that you do some work, then you perform, then you stop and you have a break because they have to set up lights, and then you do some more work. I really liked the pace of it; it really agreed with me. I enjoyed it.

Body-shaming is something I feel really strongly about. I think about my niece, I think about my friends who have daughters being on the Internet and reading these things, and it just makes me furious. It makes me so angry.

At 32, I kind of thought I was past the point where I was gonna get a break that really changed my life overnight.