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

I called Scott Rudin, and I told him I wanted to do the play [Fences], so that's how the ball got rolling. I never said, "I'll do the play, and the next year I'll do the film, I just wanted to do the play."

If you don't fail, you're not even trying.

I actually don't hang out with any celebrities. My closest friends are old friends. And my real close friends, none of them are actors.

I walk by faith, not by sight.

Acting, it's not my life, my children and my family, that's life. I'll get up every morning, God willing, for that.

My father was a minister for 50 years with Pentecostal Church of God in Christ. We prayed about everything, every day, then he always said, "Amen. God is love." I thought God is love was one word. Like "Godislove." And it took me a long time to learn what that really meant.