I started to realize, a lot of times if you go into your memory, your sense memory, you know more than you think you do, from having watched and listened.

From the time I became an actor my whole approach was to try to do as many different things as possible. It never occurred to me that I might be typecast.

I feel like my public life isn't necessarily my own. I'm starting to get used to how to maneuver and operate in New York in a way that I don't get stopped all the time. I just pretty much say "Thank you." But one of the things is to try to keep moving. Not to stop too long, because people try to get into a conversation with you all the time. The hardest thing is on the subway, or when people try to chase you down.

The African American community is so under-served in the entertainment industry.

Sometimes you have to say, "No. This is my space." If you're going to come at me, come at me respectfully, and I will respond respectfully.

I started acting, almost on a whim to help my music career.

It's funny, because in drama school, my greatest strength was my range. So my early career was like that: I played all kinds of different characters.