I don't think anyone expected me to get the BAFTA. The bookies didn't have me down. It's definitely made a huge difference in my career, but I don't dwell on it.

I don't feel that I'm a role model. I'm just me. If people want to look up to me then that's their business. I'm not perfect and I don't consider myself to be a role model. But to be honest, I'd much rather my kids look up to me than look up to some rock star who gets off jail more times than is even funny.

When I wrote 'Kidulthood,' I didn't even know there was going to be a 'Kidulthood.' I just wanted to test myself to see if I could write a script.

I'm just who I am. I don't try to change myself for other people.

I couldn't tell you the ratio, but probably for every job you see me do, there would be 20 rejections.

Generally, an indie film in the U.K. is put together much like in the states. We got a tax credit. You sell the domestic rights, which can be quite low, but it's enough to push you over the line. And you get a tax credit on top of that, and then you cobble it together with private equity or gap financing and things like that.

I think one thing my mother always instilled in me was a sense of individuality. Being an only child, I never thought I had to rely on anyone. I was never afraid to be alone and I was never afraid to be my own person. So when all my friends were like, "Let's smoke weed," I was like, "I'm not doing it." It wasn't because I was trying to be a rebel or because I didn't like it or I was anti-drugs. I just didn't do it because I didn't want to do it, and if I didn't want to do it, I wasn't doing it. That was it.