Just give me a good role that allows me to hone my craft and I am a pretty happy camper.

For minority actors, developing our own projects has to be the eventual path. We have a lot of stories to tell and a really unique voice. But none of that is going to be heard as long as we're just the hired hands, acting.

I've been very lucky to work on a wide variety of projects, including two long-run and top-10 dramatic television shows. That is why it is so important to offer a helping hand to the next generation of young Latinos coming up behind me.

If you're afraid to live your life in a glass bubble, how can you do what we do in this industry?

You have to be like a sponge and use what you can and how it relates because TV is fluid. Things change on a week-to-week basis. Those are the things that I do with every character. If I'm involved in a boxing movie, I go see fights and learn about boxing. It's part of what we do.

In my college years, I worked as a union labor organizer. I was just one of the many workers trying to do my part to help the community.

There's something so familial and intimate between a boxer and his trainer.