Actors are always looking for ways to build a character.

Before I started studying martial arts, I had temper problems. I could definitely fly off the handle. Being raised in the south in 1956 definitely gave me some memories to latch onto for negative emotions.

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.

Looking back at my career, if there's one word that most people use to describe me, it's intense.

You can't just replace someone with a regular-looking guy who didn't say any of the lines.

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

I was clear: "I don't want to play businessmen with bifocal glasses and cameras, so if you're going to give me an Asian bad guy to play, then I'm going to give you the baddest Asian bad guy you've ever seen, and you're not going to forget that I was in the film."