I had this health teacher who kept me after class one time, saying, ‘You’re missing a lot of class.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, but I’m doing this play.’ He said, ‘Community theatre is not going to take you anywhere. Maybe you should stay in school’

It's funny because I went to a predominantly white school, but for some reason they always picked the musicals that were supposed to be done by totally black casts.

I always wanted to be an actor, but my top three favorite actors of all time are Al Pacino, James Dean and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

I loved getting classical training in terms of acting. I would've stayed in acting school for the rest of my life if I could have. It was this amazing period of my life where everything was so safe.

I loved the movies and I loved cartoon superheroes - superheroes in general. I had all the pajama costumes and I would wear my underwear on the outside of the pajamas because that's what Superman does.

I guess he was such an open, emotional vessel that I think he tapped into human nature, so it just left people wondering what would have happened. I think James Dean would be 83 today. He could be here, what would he be doing?

I was a big "Blue Valentine" fan. I really loved that movie. And I thought the performances were just unbelievably real, which is certainly what I always strive for in my work.