I'm a martial artist. I've boxed all my life. I work out. I studied Hwarangdo, which is a Korean style.

Growing up in D.C. there are so many different types of educational and professional levels. They call D.C. 'Chocolate City' but just because we're all chocolate doesn't mean we're all the same. In D.C., everyone co-exists harmoniously but the lines are still drawn. And people don't really step over those lines.

Miracle at St. Anna.' I was challenged by Spike Lee. When he offered me the film, he looked me square in the eye and said, 'You start this film off and you end this film. I don't want a dry eye in the theatre. Can you pull that off?' He was dead serious.

Just because you fall in love with someone doesn't mean that your families are going to fall in love with each other.

My entire life, I've always known that I wanted to be a performer, but I didn't know exactly how, where or when. I never learned or studied the craft, formally. I grew up doing martial arts and playing piano. But, something inside of me always said that I was going to do this, as far back as I can remember.

When you are really in love, you become vulnerable, and insecurities come out of nowhere.

It's funny because when I got 'Jarhead' and 'Avatar' and all those movies, 'Leprechaun' still to this day airs on BET. I was thinking, 'Will they just let it go? I finally have a body of work that can speak much better to what I can do than just Leprechaun.