Viola [Davis] is one of the great actors of her generation. She has one of these moments in the theater that I don't even know how to describe.

We rehearsed for two weeks [in "Fences"], and we taped out the whole house in the front, and the rooms, and we stood it up like a play. We tried to get off book and gave people small props.

I worked with Sidney Lumet years ago, and we had a long rehearsal process, and he would tape out the entire set on the stage, so I stole that from him.

You can’t break me because you didn’t make me.

That's what I tell young actors. "You don't have to compromise. Go do some theater and wait for an appropriate role."

I'm very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That's my cultural historical background, my genetic make-up, but it's not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.

Dreams without goals, are just dreams and they ultimately fuel disappointment.