Did you have the opportunity to work with the rest of the regular cast?

To my intense delight, I got to work with all of them. I’m a longtime Ted Levine mega-fan, and Traylor Howard and Jason Gray-Stanford are treasures. Actually, Jason is rather wicked to work with. He urged me to do my lines in one take “like a terrible actor”, because I was off-camera and it “wouldn’t matter” and better yet, might actually throw Tony. Tony is not throw-able. So I did. And Tony’s eyes actually widened and he looked like he’d actually seen something terribly embarrassing, like someone getting their wound dressed. I rather regretted letting Jason talk me into it. You do understand, don’t you, that it was all Jason’s fault?

Do you have any funny, peculiar or inspirational anecdotes about filming this episode?

Well, I just told you a peculiar one (I hope it wasn’t inspirational), but I will tell you that I just adored how much time Tony, Ted, Traylor, Jason and Michael (the director) took to figure out how to shoot one tiny moment, a four-second shot, to make it as truthful and honest as possible. I think they took about an hour to figure it out, and every second was well-spent, as it all fed into the understanding, by everyone, of the story and the characters. With a TV schedule, there is no time to waste, but they didn’t short-change what really matters. I was impressed. Don’t know if I’ve explained it well, but it was unusual and honorable.

Also, there was one scene that we filmed MOS, which means ‘without sound’ (it comes from the early German film directors working “Mit Out Sound”), and it was the robbery scene, terrifying, with lots of screaming. The first time we did it, I screamed for real, and then when I realized it wasn’t being sound recorded, for the next take I sang Rogers and Hammerstein songs at the top of my lungs instead of screaming. That cheered everyone up for the day, I must say.

What do you remember about the filming of the first episode, “Mr. Monk Goes to the Asylum”?

I remember everything. All will be revealed. I loved Toronto, and other guest actors, especially Ken Cheeseman, Dennis Boutsakaris and Kevin Nealon. I remember I had to say some disparaging things about Ken’s character’s “insane” belief in Santa, which troubled me, as I DO believe in Santa. Hi, kids! Do you mind if I say hi to my children?

Where was that filmed?

Oh, I keep answering your questions too soon. Toronto. The only year it was filmed in Toronto. I got that part because the character was an angry person in an insane asylum, and Tony keeps telling me that “no one wigs out like you do”. I think he means it as a compliment.

Compared to other work you've done was Monk a challenge or pretty easy?

Pretty easy, because of the wonderful atmosphere of creativity on the set, which I attribute to Tony setting an example of professionalism and friendliness, and Michael Watkins setting the tone of wild creativity with practicality.

What was the best role you've ever had?

Do you prefer film or television or stage work? And why?

My absolute favorite is multi-camera sit com, because it’s exactly like doing a play, only you get to do a different one each week, so no boredom, and you get paid about 4,000 times as much money as you would doing a play. But I know, from experience, that I’m best at film. Or maybe musical theater. In any case, what you learn in each medium improves your work in the others. I’m more subtle on stage now, and …well, actually, I can’t think how stage work helps my film work. My college drama teacher was right about one thing: just work as much as you can, in any place. It’s all good.

When did you first know you wanted to be an actor?

I would say, in my second year of drama school, when John Madden (not the sports announcer, but the future director of Shakespeare in Love) told me to forget my secret plan to go to law school after drama school, and to face the fact that I was an actor. He was very encouraging, and very dreamy, and I decided to give up the idea of law school, and embrace being an actor. So rather a late decision. But to tell the truth, I still have my diary from when I was ten, and there it is, in pink gel pen: I WANT TO BE AN ACTOR! Written all over January 4th, nineteen, uh, something. So I guess I must have always been a little showoff.

What is it about acting that attracts you the most?

The feeling you get when it’s going really well, and I can only compare it to skiing or surfing or something that makes you feel like you’re soaring.

What do you like least about it?

It didn’t take any acting, just remembering, and it was a blast watching actual network coverage from that night, especially knowing what we know now.

Do you have any dream projects you'd like to work on in the future?

I’d like to come back to Monk one more time. See, I have this theory that my character in the first season, the angry crazy Janie, eventually was released and became a bank loan officer, and changed her name to Madge. I think she’s secretly gleeful that Monk has never recognized her as the same person. At least, that’s how I played it. See if you can tell. So, in a future episode, I think Monk puts it together, and … well, perhaps I could get killed or kill someone. It shouldn’t be too hard to come up with a good story.