Now where exactly do you live in New York?
Brooklyn Heights.  I like it because there are a lot of young professionals there.  I love NY - it seems to really speak to me.  It allows for a little more of a personal connection but also has an intriguing rawness to it.  

How did you get started in acting? 
Was this always something you wanted to do? 
My sister was always a huge inspiration.  She is studying to be an actress, but when we were younger she did a lot of local plays at the Josephine.  I would always hang out backstage to wait for her.  At the time, the Miller's were running the Josephine and one of them told me "Hey kid - it looks like you've got some talent."  From then on I was a theatre rat.
As I got older I was in speech and debate at TMI.  I had this amazing teacher, Gloria Robinson, she actually teaches at Reagan now - she was the one who really introduced me to the possibility of acting.  You know, speech and debate in Texas is very competitive - she just really helped prepare me for everything I ultimately had to face.

How easy was it to "break" into a Broadway production? 
Well, it's interesting because after I graduated from college I really was stuck.  I had done several shows (not Broadway) and felt I was doing all right, but quite honestly I was broke.  I thought: 'If this is the life of a struggling actor, I can't do this till I'm 35.'  I couldn't have a family or reach any of my goals outside of work if I continued to live that life.  Then the option of grad school came up and the opportunity to get my MFA from an Ivy League University.  So that started my studies at Brown University.  It was actually there that I met the head of Public Theatre in New York.  I met so many people there and got such great experience and exposure.  Then, in my first audition out of grad school I made it into a Broadway show - that's the one I'm working on right now.

What is your rehearsal schedule like?
Intense.  Rehearsals start with table work, where you just spend a week working through the script and working on your accent.  Then we start working on the individual scenes, which is where we are actually up on our feet. 
We spend 3 weeks roughing through the scenes and blocking - trying to remember what we talked about at the table. 

Do you really become that character? In a play as tragic as this, how does that affect your perception?
Yes - it kind of just occurs naturally, your transition into that character.  You get to know not only your character, but all of the other characters so well it can get a little overwhelming.  Especially with a story this tragic.  I mean, we get to see human beings in a special circumstance - in the trenches of World War I.  We have so many scenes of confrontation and there's so much talk of shell shock we actually feel it.  With something like this, I just believe that you have to do it in a healthy way.  You have to have a full life outside the theatre.

So does this mean you have a girlfriend?
Oh yes, and she's amazing.  I met her in Providence, RI at Brown.  She was teaching at Brown on a foreign exchange program - she's French.  I've been studying French now for the past 6 months.  You could say I'm into her - big time.

Who are your role models?
Definitely my mother and my father.  They are the most caring, generous people I know. 

Where is your favorite place to visit?
The Texas hill country - I just love Joshua Creek Ranch.  I'm also kind of fond of Paris, France. 

Who do you despise?
Negative people.

What is your astrological sign?
Gemini.  And I am true to the Gemini nature completely.

Do you have a birthmark?
No.

What is your favorite book?
Wow, I have a lot of favorite books.  There is this book called The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand that is a beast of a book, but I really enjoyed it.  I also really enjoyed A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.

What is the ultimate?
To find stability and balance in the artistic world - enough to have a blossomed relationship and hopefully kids down the line.  I really strive to have a full personal life outside the craziness that can be acting.