I feel like the stillness of Ralph Angel - him being formerly incarcerated, being a Black man, being misunderstood in this world, I felt like that brought him to a place where he thought he had to be an observer - externally and internally.

If I choose this platform [The Black Arts Movement] and God validates this platform, I feel like we have to use the hyper-reality to get people closer to [actual] reality. Right now is so special because it's the information age and people just want to be aware and there's no better way of doing that than through art.

Ralph Angel, for me, was about getting in touch with the similarities between the characters. I felt like he was a human being that I knew and [somebody] that I've been and am currently still exploring.

Everyone has a platform, so if we could just use that and combine what we have and know -we talk about it in private - we might as well talk about it [publicly] together.

I feel like that's a blessing [ Ralph Angel role]. I really just think it's about the overall message, the way it's conveyed and the people involved in the project. Find people you want to create with because it's infinite, unlimited expression.

I try to be as intentional as possible.

[Ralph Angel] was really about figuring out the humanity aspect of the character and not really paying attention to certain things like him being incarcerated or him being a father and showing that type of love and putting something before you, despite me not having kids in real life. He's vulnerable, ambitious and alive.