“I think that you always want to gravitate towards people who absolutely are great at what they do and go for authenticity.”

One of the people I’ve always wanted to emulate in pursuing that dream was Meryl Streep, in terms of the different types of roles she’s been able to play and the number of different stories she’s been able to tell.

I would love to be remembered as a person who used her life to inspire others in any way, shape or form.

In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful, white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can’t seem to get there now. I can’t seem to get over that line.

And that’s what people want to see when they go to the theater. I believe at the end of the day, they want to see themselves – parts of their lives they can recognize. And I feel if I can achieve that, it’s pretty spectacular.

I really wanted to show [in fences] a marriage that is working. Not perfect, but working.

Your internal dialogue has got to be different from what you say. And, you know, in film, hopefully that registers and speaks volumes. It’s always the unspoken word and what’s happening behind someone’s eyes that makes it so rich.

They say, ‘To serve is to love,’ and I think to serve is to heal, too.

And “classically not beautiful” is a fancy term for saying ugly. And denouncing you. And erasing you.

I guess they say, “Necessity is the mother of invention” because you have two stark choices when you find yourself in a really desperate situation. You can either fold and cave-in to it or you can become really passionate about getting out of it.

Eating bread in Hollywood is a no-no!

Acting, it’s the disappearance of self, disappearance of your own needs and your own wants and the kind of embracing of the character that makes it work.

I think that what happens so often on screen is high-stake moments tends to look too pretty. And I just don’t think it’s honest.

I’ve always just simply seen myself as an actor. And I believe that it serves me well to just think in terms of my craft. If hypothetically, I saw myself only as a sex symbol, or as some other limited stereotype, I think I would feel like a complete failure.

Ordinary people who are just kind of just going about their lives are transformed into heroes because they have the courage to put their voices out there. I think that’s a powerful message in this time of political strife.

I am not a writer, but I feel that when our production company is successful, we’ll be able to give some young writers with fresh voices an opportunity to put their work out there.

Even when I get the fried-chicken special of the day, I have to dig into it like it’s filet mignon.

When you get to the end will God say, “Well done,” or, “What was up with that?”

The outer storm ceases the moment the inner storm ends, for they are the same storm.

When I entered federal parliament at the end of 2007, I was appointed parliamentary secretary for disabilities.

The shallow end of hope is usually the deep end of grace.

A life whose beginning we do not remember, and whose end we do not know.

Faith keeps you going, but doubt keeps you from going off the deep end.

In the end, your creativity — perhaps even your outrageousness — will determine the final result.

I once asked him what came at the end of the sentence… and he said “parole”.