I try to encourage actors to work harder off screen because that's where you find things.

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.

The poorest people are the sweetest people.

To protect the sheep, you gotta catch the wolf. And it takes a wolf to catch a wolf, you understand?

Writing is a weapon and it’s more powerful than a fist could ever be.

Thank God in advance for what's already yours.

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