You turn up in the morning, you get through hair and make-up, and then you are on set working until it's time to go home. And I love that. Coming from the theater, you just turn up and you're ready for whatever happens. That energy really appeals to me.

When you're playing Shakespeare, it forces you to think and feel and speak all at the same time, which really is what acting is. It expands your imagination and expands your size of thinking.

I just want to play interesting characters, and I want to work with the best directors I can work with.

It [Moonlight movie] deals with drug addiction, drug dealing, and single parenthood, but they are three dimensional characters. You understand where they are from and what they are trying to do with their lives. It is not a stereotype that has been pasted onto somebody. These are stories that come from Barry's [ Jenkins] and Tarell's [Alvin McCraney] mothers.

I went down and spoke to some of the people who lived in the neighborhood in Miami. At the end of the day I think my connection with Tarell [Alvin McCraney] is what helped me the most.

People sometimes say, "What is your dream role?" I don't really have a dream role. I'll know it when I see it.

The policies enacted during segregation are still being felt in Birmingham.