We are a diverse people, man.

I want longevity in this career.

I'm the guy coming from Juilliard.

I sort of have to have a positive outlook.

The idea of a new hero for a new day sang to me.

I'm having way too much fun on 'The Walking Dead.'

To be honest, sometimes you have to know your rights.

I'm so OCD about prep work and learning lines and stuff.

I like to surprise myself. I like to surprise my fans, too.

In 2001, terrorism was fought in a completely different way.

Nothing's out of the realm. I think '24' has always keyed into that.

If the challenge wasn't there, there's no reason to say 'yes' to the role.

The rules of engagement are totally different when you're on the homefront.

I have family that are vets of the military. My grandfather served as well.

I'm not going to lie to you: I'd prefer not to go to the gym and not to run.

In television, to be a hero and look like I look, that really stuck with me.

Eric Carter is a more raw, more emotional protagonist. He's a bit of an Everyman.

I grew up singing, and I played on Broadway to thousands of people, you know what I mean?

Sometimes '24' can seem a little grand. Sometimes these things can seem a little outlandish.

I didn't grow up seeing faces of patriots, emotional and raw and gritty, who looked like me.

I'm tired of seeing people dying every day; I'm tired of seeing people go to jail for nothing.

I think, in our darkest moments, you have to find the humor, and you have to find the lightness.

You know how trends go with television. Next year, the networks might not be open to taking risks.

What everyone loved about '24' is still there - the clock, the tick, the lean-in factor, the pacing.

Sometimes you just need to raise your voice. And sometimes a little anger is necessary, to be honest.

I know the struggle - trust me. I know how hard it is for us to say 'no' to a lot of things that get offered.

When it comes to the awards and everything, and the press, the publicity, this is all icing on the cake to me.

I like being a chameleon and doing things that are just so different that people will be like, 'Oh, that's him?'

I'm a very private guy, so it's an adjustment for me, but a welcomed one, as long as the work remains the focus.

The tension between the Capulets and the Montagues is like a gang rivalry, and that has everything to do with Compton.

I had my foot in both worlds. I knew what I didn't want, and so I had to make a choice, just like N.W.A. made choices.

I knew I wanted to be an artist early on, but I decided to seriously pursue the profession when I auditioned for Juilliard.

My mother's a police officer, so there was only so much trouble I could get myself into. But my father grew up on the other side.

I have members of my family who are in the military. I have friends who are in the military. Classmates who served in the military.

There's good cops and bad cops, and the good cops have to hold the bad cops accountable. We have to hold the bad cops accountable, too.

With '24: Legacy,' there are a lot of people who are super-excited about the show. But there are a lot of people who are very skeptical.

The thing with '24' is that because it moves so much, it's a challenge, and sometimes things get revealed about these characters as you go.

The only pressure, as an actor, is to step into Eric Carter's shoes and make him as fully and as complex and as flawed and as human as I could.

I remember 'The Cosby Show,' but that was something completely different. Comedy. There was a lightness to it and a sort of unrealistic perfection.

I feel immensely blessed - not just that I'm working, but that I'm working on projects that I really care about and like. I've always been that way.

We work so hard on our craft, and once we get out of Duke Ellington, there are not going to be people looking for technique. I worry about that a lot.

It's also crazy how Shakespeare has that cadence, and it's about locking into the jazz of the language, just like locking into the rhythm in N.W.A's lyrics.

If people don't connect to Eric Carter's struggles, I'm sure they'll find a character in this series to connect to. That's ultimately what it's about for me.

It's always weird when it comes to awards and awards season because how can you say that this performance is better than this performance? Art is so subjective.

I'll just put it this way: I've struggled enough as a working actor - and, most of the times, a not working actor - to know that anytime you are working is a blessing.

I have the most utmost respect for the men and women overseas, and I only played a soldier on television. Again, I can only imagine the sacrifices that they make every single day.

Heading out to L.A., doing this acting thing. You can't rest on your laurels out there. You finish a film, you don't know how it's going to do. You're talking about that next job, usually.

On '24,' you don't have time to emote and deal with stuff, because stuff just keeps happening. Every other minute, there's something crazy that's happening that's threatening this country.

I remember seeing the first episode of '24' when I was 13, and to be that face for a 13-year-old and open up that possibility, it shows you the world isn't on fire. There's possibility there.

The challenge is making sure that every single moment is honest, no matter what. It's doing Eric Carter justice. Not trying to fill Jack Bauer's shoes. Not trying to step into Kiefer's legacy.

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