“Rise up. Register. Let your voice be heard.”

I’m not so keen on letting my car drive itself.

I don’t have a smart house. My house is very dumb.

Each movie you do about a real person is like a painting, and you choose certain things in the painting that you want to pull out and you want to show.

I’d taken, like, maybe some African dance classes a couple of times, but I wasn’t a musical theater person at all.

I can’t even imagine something being more fun than playing James Brown onstage.

I don’t read reviews, but I do get feedback from my peers and people I know, like other actors and directors and producers.

I think there’s a difference between a working actor, a movie star and a celebrity. They’re all three different things.

Sometimes when you’re acting, you only need a little bit of something to sort of channel or, you know, transport into a place.

As a director, it is important to understand the actor’s process.

I might have had too many friends in my twenties.

I think the most stressful time of my life was when I was in New York, and I didn’t have money to pay my rent.

I would love to play Jimi Hendrix.

In television you don’t have a lot of time to spend with the role or the script. Typically you get a script a week prior to shooting. Sometimes it’s even less time, not enough time to dream about the role.

The industry looks for white actors and actresses, but it’s not the same for black actors. We have to really put the work in.

I wasn’t a comic book geek as a kid. I read some, but it was just like, ‘Oh, I have this comic book here.’ It wasn’t like I was collecting them.

When you’re doing a character, you want to know the full landscape. You want to know them spiritually, mentally and physically.

What are kingdoms without justice? They’re just gangs of bandits.

I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice.

You have to be optimistic in order to continue to move forward.

You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way to get in the way.

In case of dissension, never dare to judge till you’ve heard the other side.

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.

So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!

Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.