If someone had said to me ten years ago "Yo, we have this role of this pimp who wants to be a rapper, he lives in Memphis", I'd be like, "Really?" But then when you read it and you see it, you say "That's a great role."

I don't really know where the rumors started. They just started. Because I saw a number of people rumored for the role and there was never any discussion, never any conversations. I think Chadwick Boseman is a great actor. I saw Get on Up and he killed that role. So, I think he's going to do a great job.

One thing I love about making an ensemble film is that you can have ten people come away from it with ten different messages.

Unless you are really grounded and have a true sense of reality, you can get lost in that and a lot of people do and that's why you see so many people with successful careers but with destructive lives.

At one point, people thought that Eddie Murphy would only reach one sector of the audience, but now everyone sees everything Eddie Murphy does.

I'm getting to the point where they see me as a good actor, rather than just a good guy who can act.

Oh yeah, I'm a huge romance fan. And some women like action.