I'm not a natural-born actor. So it's been a very slow learning curve for me.

Because I sidestepped all the stereotypical roles, in a way I've made a career out of not being Asian - a lot of my roles weren't written as Asian - so there's an impulse in me that wants to take a U-turn and play a very grounded, real Asian character, maybe an immigrant.

I've had an unusual career in that I've never had a big break, but the rent always seemed to get paid.

For me, the most interesting thing is longevity and sustaining a career, because that's what's truly difficult.

I always knew from that moment, from the time I found myself at home in that little segregated library in the South, all the way up until I walked up the steps of the New York City library, I always felt, in any town, if I can get to a library, I'll be OK. It really helped me as a child, and that never left me.

I loved numbers from a very young age. I feel like my mom led me there because, instead of giving me Game Boy and PlayStations and a TV, she gave me educational software on our family computer for Math and stuff.

I remember my uncle and my father telling me that my mother didn't want me because I was blind. She thought being blind was a disgrace and a punishment from God.

I grew up torturing friends and family by making super-8 and VHS epics.