When I came into my adulthood, I recognized how fortunate I was to be doing what I loved to do.

Philanthropic work reminds you of everyone's common humanity, and that's really the common denominator for everyone.

I don't think Othello is a jealous man - he is a man who has been deceived by another person, just as everybody in the play is deceived by that person... The playwright uses the word 'jealousy' over and over and over again, but I don't think it has anything to do with being jealous.

Doing 'CSI: N.Y.' is not 'CSI.' Doing 'CSI: Miami' is not 'CSI: N.Y.,' it's 'CSI: Miami.' It has a very, very specific tone. It has a very specific look. It has a specific way in which they tell their stories that's different from 'CSI: N.Y.' and 'CSI.'

Shooting a film with seven to eight actors together is complicated sometimes because you have to cover everybody.

I don't ever get to the point where anything is old hat.

I had two times in my life where I wanted to give up everything I worked for, but God gave me a job.

I think I've certainly learned a lot of lessons in humility and continue to work on that part of myself.

You can't be bad when you're working with a kid. They have the instincts that all great actors have.

Acting is a childlike thing. To act well, you have to be childlike in order to free yourself.

Some characters need to be more performance-orientated; some, you have to be still.

Projects don't need to be special for me to sign up, but I do need them to have something that speaks to me in some way.

Things have become considerably better for men of colour since I was born. But I'd say that we'll be really getting somewhere when things get better for women of colour.

Anytime we're talking about Thurgood Marshall, that's a good thing, I think, because it gives us an opportunity to go back, look at the history, and recognize what his contributions were.

I don't necessarily go out and try to do something that's going to be just something that will please the audience. I'm not interested in doing something where I get the most people to come see the movie at the same time and they get the biggest explosion. I'm not interested in that.

The commercial I did for Kia was hilarious and unexpected, so that, I think, is also another way of signaling to the audience that there's more to me than Morpheus.

I think there's going to be many special episodes of 'Blackish.'

I work with my instincts. I don't have a process that I learned in an acting class whereby I break a script down or whereby I do a certain kind of research.

I try to meditate.

The 50s are the age of elegance. That's kind of my intention when I get dressed: casual elegance.

I have a relationship with the southern hemisphere that's a really good one. I love it there.

My company, Cinema Gypsy, produced a podcast, 'Bronzeville,' in conjunction with Larenz Tate and his brothers that we're developing into a television show. It deals with a very tight-knit African-American community in Chicago in 1947 and people who run a numbers wheel.

I'm passionate about all the things I do, really.

I always wanted to play a cowboy. I just didn't get to do it the way I thought I would.

A smart black guy is confronting for most people. But that's on them, not on me.

When I was ten, I did a play at the Henry Street Settlement Playhouse, Charles Fuller's first play. He went on to write 'A Soldier's Story,' among other things. I realized, 'Oh, I can be anything doing this.'

I've been around long enough now and have learned to be flexible enough to know that every movie isn't going to be 'Apocalypse Now,' and every director doesn't have to be Stanley Kubrick.

My production company, what we are trying to do is I'm trying to create content that speaks to me, and it's not one color. It's not one size fits all.

I love the opportunity to use my full range, and so playing in the comedy 'Black-ish' gives me the opportunity to show my lighter side, and playing in this beautiful, elegant horror story of 'Hannibal,' I get to use my darker and more cerebral side. It's really wonderful.

What I continue to learn as a parent is to be mindful of the fact that I am responsible for being the parent that my children need me to be and not necessarily the parent I want to be.

Hiding a talent is not exclusive to any one particular group of people: young, old, black, white, Latin. It doesn't matter. It's universal. The idea that you have a gift or talent is always kind of threatening.

Most of us are afraid of our success, that we will actually be great.

Obviously, after 'The Matrix,' it was a case of, 'OK, I did that. What's next?' I mean, it's always like that, but more so this time. How do I change it up? How do I keep it interesting for myself?

You can't go looking for another one of those franchises. You only ever get one of those. You get 'Stars Wars'; you get 'Indiana Jones' or get 'The Matrix.' I've had my franchise.

All I know is, I'm trying to do things that are a little different whenever I can.

Jesse Eisenberg, this little nebbishy guy, as Lex Luthor? For me, that's a genius move.

I can't imagine not coming back to the theater. It's where I started.

I see that I have, as part of my stock in trade, a very regal personality and carriage. I see that I have a kind of strength, a kind of command, and a kind of power that one would associated with a monarch.

A big part of the challenge is teaching your kids how to have a real conversation, not a texting conversation. If they're not sitting down at the table, the art of conversation is going to go.

If you can influence five people, fantastic. If you can influence five hundred people, fantastic. It's all important.

I have my own career. I'm an environmentalist.

Americans want to reduce our dependence on oil. And Americans really don't wanna be contributing global warming if they can help it.

Food is being purposefully formulated to addict you.Then it is purposefully marketed, targeted to young children to addict them at an early age. This is unethical, right? This is immoral, particularly when you see the results of it which is this world-wide epidemic of diabetes and obesity.

When you see that charger in the wall, you have to now say okay that's, that's contributing to global-warming pollution, I have to pull that charger out of the wall.

What does everyone in America own? A car. What is the quickest way to reduce our dependence on oil? Embrace hybrid technology.

Look, I don't have the millions of dollars that Exxon has. But I've got comedy. I've got satire. I've got stars.

Kids need rituals. They need the security of them, the bonding time of them.

Just because you've been divorced doesn't mean you're not still a family.

The fact that this is what John McCain is suggesting - more offshore drilling and more nuclear power plants? I don't think so. Not even close. Not even in the ballpark of what we need.

Scientists are not necessarily the best communicators.