PartyLines- photographs by Patrick McMullan

What’s your Halloween costume this year? “You know how all these tortured indie-rock guys always wanted to date the cheerleader? Well, this time, I’m going to be a cheerleader, because I’m one of those tortured indie girls, and my boyfriend is going to be the quarterback, and he’s British, so he doesn’t even know what that means.” —Karen O

—Tilda Swinton

Do you read criticism about yourself? “Sometimes I’ve read things where there’s a writer that we should be using that we’re ignoring, or somebody’s doing something that we’ve overlooked. I’m looking all the time. It’s not like I’m in a New Yorker silo eating our own grain all the time. That’s a big part of the job.” —David Remnick

—Christine Baranski

—Jason Schwartzman

Do you live in New York? “I live in Vermont. I love many species of trees. I can tell you all the species of trees, birds. I can take you cow-tipping. They call me the Puerto Rican Land Baron of Vermont.” —Luis Guzman

—Salman Rushdie

Do you ever get lost in New York City? “I know where Greene Street is in relation to Mercer, which feels like a real coup. Everything beyond that is way murky. Soho is a little gridlike, but the East and West Villages are serpentine and odd. If it’s not immediately obvious, I don’t know it, in terms of directions.” —Claire Danes

—Hugh Dancy

—Eddie Izzard

Have you ever made an ass of yourself in front of another celebrity? “Yes, Sean Connery at the Golden Globes. I asked to take a picture and he turned and walked away from me! So I followed him all throughout the evening, tapping him on the shoulder. I just annoyed the shit out of him, until his publicist told me to walk away.” —John Leguizamo

—Nora Ephron

—Nick Pileggi

Is therapy taboo in your home country of Ireland? “That role was traditionally filled by the Catholic Church and confession. The only difference between the Catholic Church and psychotherapy is that you’re in and out in a quicker time, and they don’t charge you money. They do get you in other ways, of course, by making you feel guilty and that you’re going to hell.” —Gabriel Byrne

—Wallace Shawn

Have you ever entered The New Yorker’s cartoon-caption contest? “No, it’s a great idea but I’ve never done it. I have friends who do it, and they’re always pissed off because they think theirs was better than whatever they picked.” —Edie Falco

—Colson Whitehead

—Gabourey Sidibe

What was the most interesting thing you said on your New Yorker Festival panel? “I don’t say interesting things. I just talk and talk and hope that something good comes out. It’s all a crapshoot.” —Richard Kind

—Chuck Close

—Calvin Trillin

Yankees or Mets? “I’m a Mets fan. But I’m a New Yorker through and through. I can’t be against the Yankees in the playoffs, but I am against the Yankees in real life. And I have a T-shirt that says, ‘I’m still calling it Shea.’” —Susan Sarandon

—Todd Barry

—David Chang

What is the best part about living in Chicago? “Well, it is Obama land. McDonald’s is there. A lot of the fifties industry that changed all of America was based in Chicago. It really is the soul of this country. It’s good to support your soul.” —Joan Cusack

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