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

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 love boxing, and boxing has always been my favorite sport. I was always into it, and I boxed recreationally all of my life.

If you're going to play a champion athlete, people expect you to look a certain way, and you also have to have the stamina to be able to continue to perform.

Boxing is a place where, if you haven't done the training, that's going to be exposed very quickly.

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.

I had always wanted to play a boxer, all of my life. I grew up watching great boxing films.