I have never denied my background or my culture. I have taught my child to embrace her Mexican heritage to love my first language Spanish to learn about Mexican history music folk art food and even the Mexican candy I grew up with.

I think music is the greatest art form that exists and I think people listen to music for different reasons and it serves different purposes. Some of it is background music and some of it is things that might affect a person's day if not their life or change an attitude. The best songs are the ones that make you feel something.

The anger that Uncle Junior has comes from my background. My father was the son of an Italian immigrant and I've seen the fire of the Italian temperament. It can be explosive sometimes in ways that are both funny and tragic.

I was friends with all different people and all different groups. And that led me to being friends with a few people who didn't even go to my school. Now I have the most amazing collection of friends of all ethnic backgrounds and upbringing and financial backgrounds.

I knew I'd just done one of the most amazing things that I will ever get a chance to do. Just to be part of a musical that's not your background and to pull it off and to think that we've done something that's really special.

When I was trying to impress Kate I was trying to cook these amazing fancy dinners and what would happen was I would burn something something would overspill something would catch on fire and she would be sitting in the background trying to help and basically taking control of the whole situation so I was quite glad she was there at the time.

I think that clearly it has an influence to be coming of age during the punk rock era to come from a difficult and sporadically violent background to have been in and out of such chaos I think it actually helps. But I don't know for sure.

The one thing that unites all human beings regardless of age gender religion or ethnic background is that we all believe we are above-average drivers.

And in my own life in my own small way I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us - no matter what our age or background or walk of life - each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.