My parents were all about education. My mother was a librarian - she retired after 30 years - and she made sure that we were always at museums, that we went to plays.
It was a natural for me to end up in the theater because I'd done a lot of reading about it.
When actors have the opportunity to play a larger-than-life icon - my wife did it with Tina Turner, and Jamie Foxx did it with Ray Charles - you have to make a decision how you go in. What do you start with? Where do you begin?
When I was a senior in high school, I did an internship with a law firm. And it was very clear that I did not have what it took to do that kind of work.
From the outside, there's a lot of glitz. They see you on the red carpet, but they don't see what it takes to get there.
I remember I was up for the role of Jim in 'Huck Finn,' and because I went to Harvard and Yale, they didn't think I would be able to play a slave. I said, 'Oh, please.' I had to go in there and prove to them that I wasn't too intelligent to play a slave.
I was a huge O. J. Simpson fan.
When your tummy is full - even while shooting for long hours - you feel good.
Growing up, my dad and my mom were there for my sister and I.
I get up early, go to bed late, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. And I pray a lot.
