“Blessed to meet so many great people everywhere I go. Can’t thank you all enough for the support.”

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.

People have said, ‘You don’t need to do any more biopics. You don’t need to play any more real people.’ I don’t agree with that.

I’m not really interested in being a superhero. That’s not a box I’ve been trying to check off.

Baseball players need strength but also the ability to make fast-paced, explosive movements, so their training is all about strengthening the tendons around the bone and the joint so you don’t tear the muscles from the bones.

Frankly I’ve never really subscribed to these adjectives tagging me as an ‘icon’, ‘superstar’, etc. I’ve always thought of myself as an actor doing his job to the best of his ability.

I do believe that an actor, who is self aware, will never do a film that is not an extension of his personality.

It is a common perception that actors don’t get along.

Categorisation of actors has become outdated now.

The best part about being a superstar is that you can wear the most outrageous of clothes and they say ‘it’s in!’

Actors are greedy. They can never be satisfied. I want praise as well as box office returns.

As an actor you’re only supposed to be a lover. I am a romantic hero though I don’t like that tag. With all the hardships, problems, illness, goodness, badness, awards and money. An actor will always be a lover. And a lover makes mistakes. You’ll be silly, nonsensical and stupid.

I am not born to just become an actor.