I went to college for one semester, and I took every subject I could, and I ended up failing. So I thought to myself, Ever since I was a kid, I've loved expression - and that's when I started thinking about acting.

Antwone's story was a story of hope and that's what appealed to me. I needed hope myself at that time. I think all actors give up at some time and think they're never going to make it.

Spartan is about this elite unit of the armed forces named the Delta Force. I play a protege of Val Kilmer's character, and he kind of gives me a hard time.

Hip-hop was my first audience - I would rap in the mirror, walk down the street and listen to my Walkman.

I was working at the store on the Sony studios in Culver City. And I was literally holding a shirt when they came in and told me I'd got the part! It just shows dreams do come true.

I went to Jersey City State College to please a family member. I wasn't prepared for school. To say I failed out is putting it nicely.

Denzel's quality, I think, is his faith. You have all the action in your head and you have to believe in it and just do it. That's what he does and that's what he taught me to do.