I don't do comedy. I think if a situation is funny you just play it for real and if it's funny, it's funny.

In growing up, I was a child of the movies. I went to the movies every given opportunity, and that's pretty much what has informed a lot of my choices.

I'm not a comedian. I don't make things funny if they're not funny. I don't invent funny stuff.

Somebody once said to me after I'd done "Deep Impact," "What is it like to play a Black president," and I said, "I didn't play a Black president. I played a president. I just happened to be Black. There's a difference.

I don't think you're going to get nominated every time you jump out of the box.

I got my first job as a card-carrying actor in New York in 1967. Before that, I was a very desperate wannabe.

From early childhood, my thrust was to get into the movies.