Omar Benson Miller
My father is from Mississippi, and I heard stories of racial injustice my whole life.
I played sports. The acting thing was just a direct blessing from the Lord, because I lost my discipline to play sports, and I had this really cool professor grab me and kind of take me under his wing, and the ball just started rolling. Another professor introduced me to my first agent, and the next thing you know, I got to start doing films.
I played basketball and baseball up until college, yea. Then I lost my discipline and started chasing girls and whatnot.
'8 Mile' is so revered, it's like, everywhere I go, somebody's talking about it.
After '8 Mile' came out and blew up, the ball has been rolling ever since.
Normally, I try to stay away from playing security guard-type characters, the stereotypical, big man fare. And I've been pretty blessed, man, and successful at getting out of the box.
Before I left to go to college, I was living in Orange County, Anaheim Hills. And prior to that, I was in Long Beach.
I'm not a fan of travel and food shows in general, because I think, a lot of the time, I feel like they're talking down to you.
I read the novel 'Miracle at St. Anna' when it was first released, and I loved it.
As a 6-foot, 6-inch, 300-pound black man, I've done everything I can to stay out of that box that Hollywood tries to put me in. I've been able to play a variety of roles, like the character of Vern in 'Shall We Dance?' with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez to the character of Neal in 'Things We Lost in the Fire.' I've been blessed.
People think that, somehow, size makes you uncoordinated or incompetent. There is a lot of size discrimination out there, and I see the difference in the way people treated me when I was 360 pounds versus how they treat me when I'm 290 - from the industry to day-to-day people on the street.
The best party I've ever attended in my life was courtesy of Marshall Mathers. There were basically six guys and 70 girls there.
Some dudes who are key grips honestly look like they could play D-Line for the Raiders.
I have a very round mound of rebound thing going on. I was a surprisingly good shooter, too. If I could have any job in sports, though, I'd want to be playing first base for the Yankees.
[I] had very high hopes for Israel and it's lived up to and surpassed what I had in mind... I've had such an eye-opening experience - a really nice glimpse into the culture and lives of Israelis and the Jewish people.Collection: Nice
I think that the only way that you're going to succeed anywhere is to fail, as crazy as that sounds. It's the only way. You have to fail your way up.Collection: Crazy
I have a real hunger to experience life. I'm really, really inspired by my family. I grew up with my family, really did a lot; we took a lot of road trips, we did a lot of different businesses, we'd always tried stuff. For me, that just kind of sparked something from the time I was a kid.Collection: Real
I'm learning that when you get out into the world and you try things, it's amazing that you'll find how strong you are when you have to be.Collection: Strong
I decided to try things, and I started to do things that would take me out of my comfort zone, and a lot of the times, that will cause you to either sink or swim. Really, I just lean on my inner circle and my faith to try to continue to encourage me so that I'm never out. I can be down, but I'm never out.Collection: Circles
One of my brothers used to tell me all the time, "Listen, nobody is going to discover you in the living room." It's about being interactive in life and participating in your own life. Once you get a grasp on that, you understand. "OK, I can take a couple of knocks. They can hit me on the chin, and I can get up." That's what it's about. It's not about not getting knocked down but getting up. Making sure that you keep pursuing whatever that passion is. For me, that passion is entertainment.Collection: Brother