I'm a professional at what I do. I'm an actor. I've been on enough movie sets to know the difference between a stage light and an apple box. I know the difference. Why? Because I've been around it long enough and I know.

That's one of the fun parts of becoming an actor: You can become whoever you want to be.

You start at a young age, going on auditions, and you think you did a good job and expect to get that role, and you don't, and it's a letdown, a disappointment. So you tell yourself to just do the work and disconnect, because you have no control over the outcome.

The fact that there aren't an abundance of African-American males that are getting lead roles [and] that are getting roles that have prominence on the big screen. [It's] the same thing from behind the camera; maybe even worse. Coming up, when you're black and you want to direct somebody says, "Oh, you're Spike Lee" or "You're John Singleton."

For me the movie [Fruitvale Station ] wasn't about that. The movie's about [Oscar Grant] life. And what happens on the platform is a very short part of the film. It's from Oscar's perspective. From the perspectives of the relationships that he's involved with.

I'm a tropical weather cruiser. I like surfing, you know. I like being on the beach.

[Ryan Gosling] just got by because he's a cute kid? Yeah. I was an ugly kid; "The Mickey Mouse Club" wasn't for me.