I was cocky and arrogant when I was younger. I thought that if I delivered a good performance, and put my best foot forward, that would be enough to get people's attention. So in my naivety, I cut my legs off at the knees, because I didn't realize that oftentimes it doesn't matter about the performance... it's the media that creates stars.
Acting is an opportunity for me to try to explore and examine and expose humanity's weaknesses that are intrinsic to our nature as humans and learn from them; thereby, it's like a sociological expose.
Right around 2004 when 'Ray' came out, I made a conscious decision to be more discerning because I thought to myself, 'After something like this, I really have to try to be strong enough to turn stuff down.'
Music is math; music is spiritual.
It's not in my nature to chop people's heads off, per se, or rob a bank or any crazy thing I've done on screen. I'm just comfortable reading a book or spending time with my wife and my daughter or watching the fight on TV with the fellas.
I like roles that bring the unexpected. Roles that may challenge the way people think about things and perceive things. And I like roles that reflect a reality.
I typically don't get into predicting the success of my projects. I've been involved with a lot of projects that I thought should have really gained notoriety and furthered my career, only to be met with the cold grasp of disappointment. So I typically stay away from predicting how a film will do.
You can be a dynamic actor, but could never be a star if you never spend time with the media. That's something that I neglected to do.
