“I want to do things that scare me, and also have a good time.” — Josh Pais

My father was born in Amsterdam in a highly religious family. He was in Amsterdam, and he went into hiding right near where Anne Frank was. He was a theoretical physicist and the last Jew to get a Ph.D. in Amsterdam.

I always worked pretty steadily. But maybe out of some kind of fear, I put the brakes on letting myself be as successful as I'd like to be. More and more, I've taken the brakes off and let whatever happens happen.

My process is I try to learn my lines so they're so solid I don't have to think about them or how I'm going to say them.

I teach a course called 'Committed Impulse,' and part of the work I do is to get people outside of their heads.