JAY DUPLASS

I guess I need a hobby. Currently my primary hobby is complaining.

I do own a unicycle, which I use for workout purposes as opposed to doing tricks.

Filmmaking is a very complex form - ya know, acting, lighting, screenwriting, storytelling, music, editing - all these things have to come together.

I went to film school at UT Austin. I learned a lot, and that school's good for puking up all your bad movies early and quick. But ultimately, no one can teach you to be an artist.

I loved movies. They inspired me more than anything growing up and wanted to do for others what those movies have done for me. I do a lot of other creative stuff but am not very good at it.

Everyone I know who is having success in film right now is there because of persistence.

I have an appreciation for strong women.

I had to live on $17,000 a year until I was 33, because I was a failed artist until I was 29, when I made my first short film that went to Sundance.

I thought acting was showboating.

If we are to maintain a relevant and just industry, we must all open our eyes to the obvious lack of equality in wages, representation, and access.

Independent filmmaking burns off a lot of storytelling fat.

I always tell young filmmakers, don't go make a feature. Make a short. When you're ready to make a feature, people will tell you. Your friends will tell you. Your fans will tell you. Festivals will tell you. Listen to your audience.

The idea that a lot of sons marry their mothers subconsciously, which I have done in my own life, was interesting to explore.

I think it's hard for quieter, more introverted people to get into acting.

I grew up Catholic, and I am a pretty shy person.

I think the press mistakenly thought that all of these 'mumblecore' filmmakers were banded together in a similar ideology, but the truth is that we were all just using the same digital camera and helping each other make our movies because we were broke, and we were the only idiots willing to do it.

The first 600 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, before you get into the Sierra Nevada mountain range, is heavy on desert. One of the things I carry with me in the desert is an umbrella. People think that's insane. It has a shiny top to it, so it looks totally ridiculous, but the difference can be 20 degrees.

My wife is a social worker and a feminist, and it feels natural to me to have these relationships with these powerhouse women that I have had.

Now that I'm acting, I've realized that I don't have a lot of barriers. Certain actors have a hard time with anger or with joy or with whatever, and, I don't know, I don't seem to have those barriers.

In my short acting career, I've been in incredible relationships with incredible women.

When you grow up in New Orleans, like, the only way to be an artist is to be a 55-year-old black musician. That's basically what we wanted to be. If you had asked me very truthfully what I wanted to be when I was 16, the answer would've been, 'I want to be a 55-year-old black musician.'

I think it's rare for anyone that a really accomplished, amazing director calls you up and says, 'I want to make a movie around you, and I want it to be this.'

On 'Transparent,' I work closely with LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming people who are now my close friends - truth be told, we're all more like family.

My whole life, I've been the one in my family that's always too emotional and too sensitive. That's, like, my role in my family.

From casting to hiring to awards races like the Emmys, taking active steps toward inclusion will make for richer stories, a stronger democracy, and a better world.