Sometimes you just need to raise your voice. And sometimes a little anger is necessary, to be honest.Collection: Anger
I sort of have to have a positive outlook.Collection: Positive
Even before I was working off-Broadway, there were lots of different TV shows that I would actually say 'no' to, and my agents would be like, 'Are you crazy?' but they stuck with me because they know the kind of things that excite me.
I want longevity in this career.
I know the struggle - trust me. I know how hard it is for us to say 'no' to a lot of things that get offered.
Yes, I do feel a deep responsibility every time, every character, everything that I do.
So you want to take the risk, and you want to step out there; you do it because that's what we have to do as actors. And sometimes in TV, it becomes big, and it becomes about the entertainment, but also, we have to focus in on the work.
Eric Carter is a more raw, more emotional protagonist. He's a bit of an Everyman.
Sometimes '24' can seem a little grand. Sometimes these things can seem a little outlandish.
Nothing's out of the realm. I think '24' has always keyed into that.
The thing with '24' is that because it moves so much, it's a challenge, and sometimes things get revealed about these characters as you go.
I like being a chameleon and doing things that are just so different that people will be like, 'Oh, that's him?'
The idea of a new hero for a new day sang to me.
I think, in our darkest moments, you have to find the humor, and you have to find the lightness.
I feel immensely blessed - not just that I'm working, but that I'm working on projects that I really care about and like. I've always been that way.
It's always weird when it comes to awards and awards season because how can you say that this performance is better than this performance? Art is so subjective.
I like doing things that people wouldn't necessarily think I can do.
In television, to be a hero and look like I look, that really stuck with me.
If the challenge wasn't there, there's no reason to say 'yes' to the role.
I didn't grow up seeing faces of patriots, emotional and raw and gritty, who looked like me.
I remember seeing the first episode of '24' when I was 13, and to be that face for a 13-year-old and open up that possibility, it shows you the world isn't on fire. There's possibility there.
What everyone loved about '24' is still there - the clock, the tick, the lean-in factor, the pacing.
Sometimes, as actors, we feel like we want to hold on and control where a character goes.
I have members of my family who are in the military. I have friends who are in the military. Classmates who served in the military.
In 2001, terrorism was fought in a completely different way.
I knew I wanted to be an artist early on, but I decided to seriously pursue the profession when I auditioned for Juilliard.
I'm a very private guy, so it's an adjustment for me, but a welcomed one, as long as the work remains the focus.
When somebody says, 'Do you want to play Dr. Dre in a movie?' I mean, how do you respond to that? My initial response was 'no' because I don't think I can do it ,and I don't want to be the one to mess it up!
The rules of engagement are totally different when you're on the homefront.
We are a diverse people, man.
Growing up, we never got to see a hero who didn't have superpowers who looked like us, that you could kind of look to and say, 'I could be that guy one day. I could be a patriot. I could be a soldier. I could work in the government and be a hero.'
On '24,' you don't have time to emote and deal with stuff, because stuff just keeps happening. Every other minute, there's something crazy that's happening that's threatening this country.
I remember 'The Cosby Show,' but that was something completely different. Comedy. There was a lightness to it and a sort of unrealistic perfection.
You know how trends go with television. Next year, the networks might not be open to taking risks.
The challenge is making sure that every single moment is honest, no matter what. It's doing Eric Carter justice. Not trying to fill Jack Bauer's shoes. Not trying to step into Kiefer's legacy.
I have the most utmost respect for the men and women overseas, and I only played a soldier on television. Again, I can only imagine the sacrifices that they make every single day.
It can't be all serious at all times.
The only pressure, as an actor, is to step into Eric Carter's shoes and make him as fully and as complex and as flawed and as human as I could.
I'm tired of seeing people dying every day; I'm tired of seeing people go to jail for nothing.
To be honest, sometimes you have to know your rights.
If you feel your rights are being abused by the authorities, and you don't say something, sometimes the cops don't know how far to take it. They have a hard job, but at the same time, I think it's just about educating yourself.
I know that people get cast based on how they look in Hollywood.
We work so hard on our craft, and once we get out of Duke Ellington, there are not going to be people looking for technique. I worry about that a lot.
I have family that are vets of the military. My grandfather served as well.
While I was filming 'Kong' - and I don't play a very capable Army Ranger in 'Kong'; I play a completely different character - but we had a lot of Army Rangers there, former Army Rangers, and Navy SEALs, who were working on the movie with us for the other characters, for the Army guys in the movie.
If people don't connect to Eric Carter's struggles, I'm sure they'll find a character in this series to connect to. That's ultimately what it's about for me.
Heading out to L.A., doing this acting thing. You can't rest on your laurels out there. You finish a film, you don't know how it's going to do. You're talking about that next job, usually.
I'm having way too much fun on 'The Walking Dead.'
When it comes to the awards and everything, and the press, the publicity, this is all icing on the cake to me.
I prefer to do in-person interviews, but it's all a part of the job, and I love talking about these movies so much.