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.

If your life turns out to be good and you have a tremendous amount of luck in your life, it's a good thing to turn around and make it work for others.

But I was 22 before I took my first dance class. I had never been athletic, so I was very stiff; I still am. I think what I got mostly from dance was carriage.

I do know there are a lot of people who seem to be in my corner, and that's, of course, wonderful. I'm really more interested in the nomination than in the award, because I think the nomination just puts you within a group of outstanding actors.

Audiences believe what you believe. It's a matter of believing yourself. If I believe me, then you've got no choice. None at all.

You want to retire from a job you're not that all enamoured with. I love what I do. I want to keep doing it till I can't get out of bed doing it.

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