“A lot of actors think that what we do is so important, like we’re saving people’s lives or something.”

All I try to do in the press is to be honest about something that I really care about.

There’s no reason to regret anything. Regret is a waste.

I know that people’s judgments are fast, and in a split second I will ruin it.

Hate me for who I am, I don’t care. At least I’m not pretending to be someone I’m not.

Vanity is a silly thing to be obsessed with because, it sounds cliché but it leads you to emptiness; it goes away.

If you are going to make something forever, you should be yourself.

You don’t need to give reasons for the things you do – you just have to do what you want. And sometimes the thing that seems messed up to everyone else is what’s right for you. You have to do it and not be ashamed of it.

Appreciate what you’ve got and follow your heart and you’re all good. Don’t over-complicate things.

I stand by every mistake I’ve ever made, so judge away.

When you love something, you get to know it. Then you feel the ownership and if it changes, you only love it as far as you know it because then you’re like, “What is this?”

I have no idea what I’m doing, and that’s kind of how I love it.

Anytime I hear that somebody’s really rich, the first question is, ‘Do you do anything with it? Or do you, like, chill? You just sit on it?’

I went through an experience that taught me that as soon as you think that you know how your life is going to be, something in the universe will make you realize that you really are not that in control of it.

I’m not the type of person that just needs to feel concrete and like nothing’s going to change. I revel in the change.

Sometimes you have to be selfish to get what you want and move forward in life.

If you’re an honest person, you’ll make mistakes, but it’ll be okay. The most interesting things happen after making mistakes.

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

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.

One of the first things I was taught as an actor was, ‘Don’t judge the character.’

I try to look at every role the same way, regardless of whether the character is real or the character is a fantasy. I always start from myself, because you have to know yourself first.

As an African-American actor, a lot of our stories haven’t been told.

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

It’s important to keep challenging myself and try to come up with some new face every now and again.

This created world really helped me as an actor. It heightened everything, which made it more dangerous, more interesting and more liberating.