When you trust the director you want to trust his or her choices. I don't want to say, 'No, I don't like this girl or that guy," when the director really loves them. No, you want to go with what the director likes.

Come on, I know bad acting when I hear it.

I know, as an actor, I don't like sharing everything with the director. And it's fine if they don't with me.

So you never know who you touch. You never know how or when you'll have an impact, or how important your example can be to someone else" (20).

It's not what you know, it's what you can prove.

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 had the kid [on "Fences" ] who understudied me so I could stand back and think about shots so he had to learn the blocking and everything. I'd come in early sometimes, and they 'd be in there rehearsing and working on their stuff. I didn't want them to feel like, "Oh these are people who can't be touched." We're all working actors; we're all trying to get better.