That was my goal in portraying Jesse Owens: bringing that level of humanity so people could understand who he was as a person.

That was my goal in portraying Jesse Owens: bringing that level of humanity so people could understand who he was as a person.

Jesse Owen was bigger than a black hero, he was an American hero. For me, I looked at it from that perspective. Through my research, I obviously learned a lot, much of which made me sad, upset, disappointed and even angry, regarding what Jesse had to go through. Not only was he a black man in America during an age of high racial tension and segregation, but he was also living in the middle of the Great Depression - it was very difficult times for him and his family.

Jesse Owens had to be a very strong person. There were a lot of protests, but I think that he knew, despite the pressure on both sides, the pressure to go and the pressure not to go, he had to do it for himself. Unknowingly, he changed the world and broke so many barriers by doing so, by being a leader.

I grew up on basketball, volleyball, that sort of thing. For me, track and field was a whole 'nother beast.

The issue of racism happens all over the world. Granted, people - especially Americans - don't know the the Canadian culture. But if you look outside this country, it's a problem all around the planet.

What I've learned about that word is context, where the world is coming from - in the era the film is set, it obviously is used derogatorily. In 'Selma,' it was the same sort of thing. Of course now, in music, it's used in many more ways, including ways that takes the sting out of it. It all depends on where and when it is used, and how you look at it. But again in 'Race,' it is intensely disrespectful.