“I dont see myself only as a Somali character. I think of myself as an actor, and if the job fits me and I like the story, I will go for it.”

I left Somalia when I was seven years old, but I witnessed a whole year in a war.

I was lucky enough to have parents that took me out from country to country and go to school and learn how to be a better person.

The line was originally, ‘Captain Phillips, get a load of me: fancy-free on the seven seas,’ but I ad-libbed.

It is weird. A lot of people try to ask me political questions. Im not a politician.

What I believe will make my acting career successful going forward is hard work. I like to challenge myself. Then it’s the people I meet and choosing the projects I want to work on correctly. There’s a lot of characters I can play.

When you work with a great director, you realise you are far from being a director.

I just want to keep acting and better my craft and see how far it goes.

At the end of the day you go out and do your job and follow your directions.

A housewife deserves to be honored as much as a woman who earns her living in the marketplace. I consider bringing up children a responsible job. In fact, being a good housewife seems to me a much tougher job than going to the office and getting paid for it.

It’s government’s job to respect and protect the rights of the individual. That vision is centrally important to the principle put forth by the Founding Fathers. If you don’t believe that, you shouldn’t be in Congress.

Being spokesman for a generation is the worst job I ever had.

My job description is that I’m a rock star. And I’m good at it.

Somebody asked me recently, ‘Have you done a lot of plays?’ I thought hang on. .

The best verse hasn’t been rhymed yet, The best house hasn’t been planned, The highest peak hasn’t been climbed yet, The mightiest rivers aren’t spanned.

It is shameful that millions of Americans are suffering the economic injustice of working a full-time job and earning a wage that leaves them below the poverty line.