Cress Williams

Growing up, I didn't really read a lot of comics; we didn't really have the money to get them. But I grew up a universal fan of fantasy and sci-fi and watching a lot of TV. There's always this question of 'Are you a fan of sci-fi or fantasy?' But can't you be a fan of both? We love everything fantasy, my wife and I.

My first job was television. I got to where I wanted to go, but through a little bit of a detour. When I first started working in film and television, I hated myself - I didn't like what I was doing at all. All I could think of was, 'I'm overacting. Be smaller.' I started to do that, but that was not fun. I felt confined doing film and TV.

From the moment I turned 39, 40, I really turned a corner and became a person who really enjoys working out. When I don't get a chance to, I miss it. I also just recognized that it would give me career longevity if I kept myself in the best shape I could possibly be in.

As a kid, you just like anything fanciful that you're into, but as an adult, I really love that kind of place where the super hero mythos meets life, where it has that human story; that's what I think I was really drawn to when I started getting into the X-Men.

I have no problem telling people I have a great stunt double. I'm not that guy who's like, 'I do all my own stunts.' Like, no, no, no - it's make-believe, and I'm not in the mood to die. I'm not in the mood to get hurt. I have a wife and kids!

When you're playing a superhero, you're almost playing two different people. I separate when I'm playing Jefferson Pierce and the days when I'm playing Black Lightning.

I come from theater, so I'm used to the hierarchy of an actor is just on the ladder, and above that is a director, and above that is a producer, and above that is a writer. But on a television show or film, the whole call sheet thing and being No. 1 on a call sheet, people look to you and almost expect you to exercise this power for good or bad.

Who I always refer to as my acting mentor when I got into junior college is an acting professor by the name of Tom Blank. He took me under his wing, and he was that strong male figure. He was tough love, but he believed in me, saw everything that I had.

As an actor, so much of life is out of your control, and it's really not solid.

I hadn't gotten a chance to do a lot of comedy, so 'Hart of Dixie' was a great place where I got a chance to do that and play.

On 'Black Lightning' I have a stunt double who's a lot younger than me. The fighting style on the show is heavily martial arts-based, and I know boxing; I don't know martial arts. I also have a really bad knee, and he's been doing martial arts since he was 6 years old, so I'm not thinking, 'No, I can do that! I can make that look cool!'

I realized that being that No. 1 on the call sheet sets the tone. That knowledge, it's important to me that everyone - not just actors, not just myself, but everyone - have a workplace that they enjoy, where they feel respected, that they have creative input, and that they feel is a place that they're excited to go to work.