I like the old '90s music.
I encourage first time filmmakers to be ambitious and take chances and risks, because you never know where your career is going to go.
I don't like speaking on things that I don't care about and that I'm not personally invested in.
I definitely want to do films. To see a character out from beginning to end in a matter of a hundred somewhat pages and then move on to the next role, is fascinating.
Honestly, I'm a firm believer in the next generation of filmmakers. It's very important to keep things fresh, new, current. They have a pulse on what's important today.
Honestly, I want to do films. I want to make that move from actor to producer, like Will Smith.
For me, with me, making a film is always about humanity.
For AXE to take a chance on me and to help me, you know, collaborating with them was just a really, really big deal for me. It shows that they bought into me and vice versa so it's a good relationship.
Father-daughter relationship, is something that I think is so unique and it can't really be explained unless you have a daughter.
Don't pretend to know everything. I've been blessed to work with a lot of veteran actors, and I soak up lessons from them like a sponge.
Do as much homework as you can. Learn everybody's job and don't just settle.
Creating the opportunities for other people and solid projects, things that I like, for sure, definitely. Acting I'll do forever, but I want to produce as well.
Be collaborative. I've had some of my best experiences with directors who were able to sit down and have a conversation and ask me what I thought.
As I grow and get older, mature a bit, and work on my big boy voice a little bit, I definitely want to direct.
As human beings, why does it take somebody to feel like they're close to us for us to see their humanity? Why can't we see the humanity in people that are distant from us?
As an actor, you always dream of having material that showcases what you can do.
Acting I'll do forever, but I want to produce and stuff as well.
Acting for me sometimes is taking whatever personal experiences I have and try to apply that [to a role].
Chicago PD has a rule that if you work in Chicago you have to live in Chicago. Some areas don't have that rule.So oftentimes you get people from different environments that get thrown into environments with people that they never spent time with before in they life. On a daily basis or in their personal life. The only access they had to these type of people was through the media.
Definitely, as I get older and my taste buds change, I want to do different things. I'm not ready for directing yet, you know, maybe when I get my big boy voice; I don't have that yet, but right now definitely producing for sure.
For me the movie [Fruitvale Station ] wasn't about that. The movie's about [Oscar Grant] life. And what happens on the platform is a very short part of the film. It's from Oscar's perspective. From the perspectives of the relationships that he's involved with.
How are people who are young and look like Oscar [Grant] portrayed in the media? You gotta think about that. And somebody given a badge and a gun and told to go police in those communities, all of a sudden they got to protect and serve and talk to people they never even spent time with [and] they might have formed opinions about.
I definitely want to direct. This is just another learning experience for me, to get a chance to hear the questions and concerns the directors have, some of their fears. It's a team sport. You have to give everybody what they need so they are able to perform at their best.
I do a lot. I don't like to sit still. I am pretty spontaneous. I like to cook a lot. I like to eat. I like to workout, surf, read, write, and create. I am always working on a couple of projects that I always have and need to put more time into.
I feel like you have to pull from some personal experiences [to acting]. At least that's how I work sometimes. It's just easier that way. And I try it as best as I can and kind of dissolve myself and become a character, not me, or just blur the lines.
