There were times when I purposely didn't go to school because of Pearl Harbor Day, because certainly there was enough media about it every year to remind everybody. So when I heard they were going to make the movie, I thought, "Oh, no, please not another Pearl Harbor mention!"

There are a lot of wannabe men in Hollywood. But when you have that Hollywood mentality, there aren't a lot of real, grounded people.

I used to be a street performer, and performances on Venice Beach, it's like playing the Apollo: They let you know if they don't like you!

The worst thing that can happen is that the effect that they create behind you is bigger than the performance you're putting out.

In fact, I think new media is going to make a big difference with injecting more people of color into Hollywood and non-Hollywood.

It's not whether you fall or make a mistake, it's what you do when you fall. And I say you stand up. You keep standing up. It's not how many times you fall, it's how many times you stand up.

To suddenly be working with one of the top-10 directors in the world, plus the film was in China, I almost blurted out, "How much do I have to pay?" It was just like a dream come true. That was an amazing experience.