I love the whole world of boxing and the sense of community that exists there.

You make choices, as a young man. I knew I wanted to be an actor, so I pursued that, but the desire to compete still stayed with me.

I had been in the gym training for many, many years, but I definitely stepped it up when it was time to get into shape to play 'Lights'. I began trying to live the life of a boxer, and that means everything that you would expect.

I've always believed my success in the entertainment business is an inevitability. You have to believe that; you have to be an optimist.

Not all television scripts are created equal. And the process is ridiculous. They send you a script and want you in the next morning. That's not how acting works. You can do anything to me as an actor; I'm a very resilient guy. Just don't rush me. If you ask me to do it immediately with no time to prepare, I know you have contempt for actors.

I take my hat off to my friend, Mark Wahlberg, because I know that it took him a long time to make 'The Fighter,' and he overcame a lot of obstacles to do it, and now the film is an unqualified success.

As an actor, you very rarely have the experience of picking up a script and getting a few pages into it and realizing that what you're holding in your hands is not just a role on a TV show, but it's one of those special parts that comes along, once or twice in a career. If you're lucky, you get an opportunity to do something really memorable and to be part of one of those rare shows that passes into that special category.