The English are good at bad guys - the James Bond-style villain, cunning, slow-burning. The Americans are much more obvious about it.

What kind of role do you play after someone like Stringer, you know what I mean? You play another gangster. What’s the point of that? I’ve played the gangster. I try to keep it really varied; it just makes for more of a fun and interesting career.

We're all human beings. Experience is experience, let's just be honest. Let's not try and dissect suffering into a race, or whatever you want to call it. We're all human beings, one way or another. All races have gone through times that are challenging; that's part of being a human.

I don't get recognised that much yet in London, but when I do I get a real sense of achievement.

Are there differences between black actors’ opportunities and white actors’ opportunities? Yes, there are. It’s been said.

Yeah, I know, any time you hear an actor say, 'I do music', you cringe. But I want to be gradual with my music. I want to earn my stripes.

The only thing I change mainly is my sneakers. I love sneakers. But everything's sort of black or jeans. Jeans, always.