Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

I wanted to wash off the experience of Africa but obviously I couldn't because that's who I was.

I'm of Nigerian descent, from the Yoruba tribe. Names are very significant in that culture. It basically states your purpose in life.

The only way you can influence your fate is to put your soul into your performance and hope it registers with the audience.

I just want to keep the diversity and the options open. In terms of what I'm looking for, I'd like to do a lead action role.

David Ayer is known for being a very serious filmmaker, but he has a very great sense of humor.

I don't really look at genre. I mean, sometimes you might be playing heavies a lot, and you're like, 'Hey, it'd be nice to do a romantic comedy.'

Well, filming in Hawaii, you know, is a blessing. It's one of the most beautiful places on this planet. It has a very mystic energy which informs you as an actor.

Also, I'd like to play an athlete again, while I'm still physically fit, or a musician, like Nat King Cole, because I play the trumpet and sing. I'd like to incorporate that into a character.

Those films that really speak to the primal fear that we, as human beings, have about the unknown have always intrigued me. That's the really scary thing, not the slasher, macabre movies. It's the ones that deal with the inner fear: the unknown realms and the mysticisms that are scary.

As an actor, you just like to be able to play as much range. I just want to be invisible. I want to be able to be perceived as an artist as opposed to 'a black actor': that's the joy.

I was always led to believe you should take care of yourself, trust in your abilities and you're the author of your own destiny.

It's wonderful to do these great blockbusters and bigger pictures, but my heart is always with true stories.