CAMERON BRITTON

I spent all of my twenties doing theater in a little 50-seat theater with my friends.

I think 'Mindhunter' has allowed me to get a chance to do larger projects.

Characters can stay with you.

If you feel too comfortable while you're performing, you're probably not doing it right.

When you can surprise yourself, you're truly acting.

If you had special powers, it wouldn't be all fun and games. There would be regrets for things you've done.

I think the Mary J. Blige persona wouldn't lend itself to the big kid persona, but that's exactly who she is. She has such a serious life and childhood and then such a dramatic one, a successful R&B singer. But she's just stayed this kid for life and stuff.

We opened a theater in 2006 called Loft Ensemble in Sherman Oaks. And we write our own plays and do goofy characters and pack a whopping 20 people per night to watch our work.

Whenever you have a role where you don't get to know anything about the character, you have to invent it yourself. You have to feel like it came from somewhere.

F. Murray Abraham is an incredible actor and has been for a long time. I've been watching him as I grew up.

Whenever you're playing somebody who is, by all accounts, rotten, don't focus on the rotten stuff. That stuff will take care of itself. It's already in the script; the audience is already experiencing it without you having to add an extra feel of evil. Just play them like regular people.

If it's a 50-seat theater, I am neurotic about whether I'm doing an honest performance. Sometimes I walk away happy enough with it. You know, it can always be better, but sometimes I'll walk away distraught, feeling like I missed the pulse of the character that evening.

In a way, I felt like I arrived before I was making money at it, because I'd established that I just wanted to act.

When you have a job you know you'd do for free, it takes a lot of the pressure away to be successful at it. So if it's doing theater in New York or teaching acting, I'm down for all of it.

You don't want to make performances; you want to make people. When a project knows, 'Okay, my bad guys need to be a little sympathetic, and my good guys need to have a bit of a mean streak,' you're off to a good start.

I've seen a lot of teachers come and go, and you do three or four years, and it's exhausting.

I just love characters that are complex, that you can dig into and keep itching the scratch and never quite be satisfied because they have enough going on with them that it's like a giant puzzle.

When I was 11, I said I wanted to be an actor.

I always look for projects that are risky and ones that want to do something unique. If audiences don't like it, you feel good knowing that you were brave enough to do something original. If they do like it, you feel like everyone is rewarded, because we all got to see something new.

If you go back to Season 1 of 'The Office,' Steve Carell's character is a lot different.

You don't see many bad guys fight amongst themselves. Bad guys always know exactly who they are and what they want. Good guys are the ones who are a little confused about their identities.

Some folks are a little scared when they meet me.

There's been some people I've overheard talking about 'Mindhunter.' I'll lean in and say, 'Hey, I haven't seen it yet. Is it any good?' And they'll say, 'Yeah, you should go check it out.'

There's some projects you're - where you're worrying that the continuity isn't right because people aren't watching after your hair or wardrobe or props, or you're not sure you're getting shot at the right angle.

I wouldn't say I'm a shy person, but I like my privacy.