Growing up in Mississippi, I realized that it was separate and unequal and all that, but it was still a safe place.

Fatigue, discomfort, discouragement are merely symptoms of effort.

That's your job as the actor, to understand the human part of the character, to make it real.

...if we get the right kind of energy, there are endless amounts. I think we should be developing every kind of alternative fuel that is available to us. That includes hydrogen to soybeans, from solar to wind. Whatever we can find that is going to help us clean up the environment we should be working really hard on developing.

I like the blues a lot. I grew up on it.

I would never complain that Hollywood is racist when I'm one of the people touted as a welcome entity there.

I'm not intimidated by lead roles. I'm better in them. I don't feel pressure. I feel released at times like that. That's what I'm born to do.