I don't think it's very difficult to bring a virginal, angst-ridden, hip-hop grunting white boy to the screen. Not that I have any experience with that. I don't know man. I understood where his head was at, because he was this 18-year-old cat that thought he was a man, but didn't really know what it meant to be a man.

I know about hip-hop culture, whether it's graffiti writing or DJ-ing or being an MC.

With drama, you need to be laughing, in between takes, 'cause you're going to those recesses of your soul and those dangerous parts. Normally, if you're not an actor or some crazy artist, you don't feel the need to run around in those areas. You keep them separate because it's painful.

I do work too hard sometimes, but my mom is such an inspiration. She tells me to 'chill out' and not take things so seriously. She will say: 'Go and have a massage.'

I have a respect for the 3-D computer-generated action movies, but my first love is stuff like 'Lethal Weapon.

I do hang out with girls, I do relax. But I am a hermit sometimes and get a bit too introverted, too 'Jean-Paul Sartre' and intellectual in my head. And it's like a Kafka novel in there, things get nuts. Then I have to remind myself to get out and I will go and play ice hockey with my friends.

All the things you can do to prepare for a role that free you, in the moment, are great. You have this muscle memory for things. You don't have to act it as much, once you've done it enough.