People watch me when I get into these characters that I have in my head, so perhaps I should try acting. So I did.

My dad is a minister, and my mum is a worker with the less fortunate and the disabled. They're Nigerian natives. Their first language is Yoruba, and their second language is English.

It's amazing that people still feel, 'Oh my gosh, it's a black guy.' We've been here for a long time; let's get used to it. Let's get used to other cultures.

I've only been three years in the industry - but I would say from my observations, my personal opinions, that the world in Hollywood and all the big movies has been built up as just white.

Some people feel fulfillment from a bitter end - it gives them some sort of sense of reality. But, when you're dealing with reality, I feel like films should discover the part that is happy. That's also reality. Things working out is a reality. It's encouraging.

You could easily play the guy as straight-up hood throughout the whole movie, the Imperial Courts, but writer and director Malik Vitthal envisioned a human being that has never been seen before in film: a black man in circumstances that he does not like, who is passionate - persistent - in turning it around.

You have to realize that for some of these people - definitely me when I was growing up - you treat every day like it's your last, because that's the reality of your situation. You never know when someone's going to go, because you're living in a war zone. It's almost like you're in a jungle, and you're just waiting for the predator to catch everybody one by one. So everybody cherishes each other. Instead of calling people the n-word, you're calling people "loved one." There is a level of appreciation for brothers and sisters in the hood.