Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.

I'm not shutting myself off from kids; I'm remaining open to kids and the energy that they bring.

I think 'Dark Blue' came to me while I was doing a project in London. I read it, and the character immediately popped out at me.

I don't think there's a fan out there who hasn't had a family member or known someone personally who's been in the midst of divorce - perhaps not necessarily gotten the divorce or executed it, or perhaps they have - and still, in many cases, they found themselves back with the person that they were married to.

I grew up in Decatur, Georgia. We had three boys in the household; actually, it felt like four of us. My pops sort of raised my uncle, too. So, it was four boys and, later, a younger sister.

When I think about the person who's been most in my ear, it's Joe Dumars.

If your character is just out there acting a fool, viewers are gonna say, 'Why am I watching this?' But if he's whispering, 'I don't really want to die,' there's a level of vulnerability cemented in these bad characters.

Craft is everything.

For a long time, I had been very secretive about a lot of the things I'd been through personally, and a lot of that is purposeful. My fan base, for the large part, is the younger generation. They're like, 'I want to know everything! I want to know it all!'

Some of the most amazing people I've met in life are cops.

Poetry is almost like my foundation for everything. I almost feel I am a better actor and writer because of it.

I would say that the woman's ability to multi-task and to be maternal in instinct, it fosters a different approach to the character that makes sense as an actor.

I'd done 'Peter Pan' in a little pre-K class or whatever.

If reality shows are so popular, that means their viewers are screaming for more realness.

I've been writing for years, you know, and when I get to a particular place, city, or different locale, I find myself first of all being challenged by those that love me to write more.

I was a 200-pound defensive back on Saturday, but after the season, I was performing 'Lysistrata' or 'Fences.'

I was at UGA playing with Champ Bailey and Hines Ward - both guys who will probably touch the Hall of Fame one day.

I don't think you really have chemistry in the way that you want between two actors unless frustration is there as well.

For me, music was a cathartic way to free me from the nut of Ghost. After working on set for 'Power' for 14 hours, it allowed me to pour my sanity and insanity into the music.

To make your own family is just the most empowering thing ever. It's the greatest thing you can ever pull off.

I found poetry at 12 and 13 and, lo and behold, learned that my attorney father had a background in poetry - as he wore dashikis and Afros in the '70s and named his kids Arabic names. He was a poet and a lot like The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron and all of these folks. He definitely was an artist.

I think Gil Scott-Heron is a king. He's a brilliant, broken king.

I kept on hearing the voice of God saying if you are going to be the minister that your mom mentioned... then you have to act. My pulpit is acting.

Acting is the art of being and existing, and not being fake.