Growing up, I've had plenty of obstacles, but to be honest, I didn't always have doubters. I was a standout athlete, so when that happens, you don't have too many people telling you 'You can't do this,' and 'You can't do that.' I've always been a bit of a people person and a hard worker.

It takes a very tough man to play defensive line at any level of football, but to be able to do it on a Division 1 level, or a professional level, it takes that intensity, that aggression, and you have to be tough.

When I had my tryout, just from two days being in the ring, learning to bump, hit the ropes, and things like that, I came home, and my back was just one huge bruise.

I've loved to be a part of anything, having an opportunity to entertain, to be a part of a film, or just continue to do what I'm doing, I'm so happy, so just making town after town, doing my thing, but if I have that opportunity to star in a film or be an extra, I don't care; its all a learning experience for me.

My family, we're all WASPs.

Looking at my family today, I think, 'I could not have done any better.' That's one thing I have got right.

My family was one of the few South Asian families in my community in Illinois. Growing up in the '80s, I remember going to the K-Mart with my mom, when she was wearing her sari, and she'd get made fun of. People would ask my mother, 'Were you born with that dot on your head?'

My best friends from high school are, to this day, my best, best friends on this planet. They know who you are with your family, they know who you are with your friends, they know who you are at school. They see every side for you and have for so many years because you've grown together.