American actor Jefferson Mays is renowned for his versatility on stage. He has portrayed many characters from various plays over the course of his career, each with a distinct personality and backstory. One of Mays's fascinating anecdotes is that he enjoys fusing his personal and professional lives by visualizing these disparate characters interacting in a familiar environment.

Assume that each character that an actor plays is comparable to a dinner party guest. Every one of them has a unique backstory, peculiarities, and qualities that set them apart. Similar to how various guests might converse and laugh over dinner, Mays creates this virtual environment in which his characters can connect and engage in ways that are impossible for them to do on stage.

In addition to being a creative way to decompress before bed, this activity also acts as mental therapy for actors. By letting these made-up characters talk to each other in his head, Mays probably discovers more about each character than the screenplay suggests. It's similar to inviting old friends over for a conversation and learning something new about them each time.

Mays notes that this practice has decreased in frequency as he gets older, possibly due to a lack of opportunities or the fact that his mind naturally relaxes without it. But for him as an actor and a storyteller, these moments of bringing up such vivid scenes must have been immensely enriching.

This quotation sheds light on the acting process by demonstrating how actors fully inhabit their parts, going beyond what viewers see on stage or screen. Mays tastes his characters separately before blending them together in this special mental setting for a deeper understanding of their complexities, much like chefs taste each ingredient separately before combining them to make a dish.