The Universe responds to specificity.

An unresolved past erodes beauty in the present.

For me, comedy and drama are all the same thing.

I love my job. And I get to work with cool people.

I called my managers, and they were like, 'What is Tijuana Jackson?'

The actors have to be able to feed each other and inspire each other.

One of my biggest lessons in life is, we heal at the speed of our forgiveness.

No one can pronounce my name. My name is 'The Black Guy From 40-Year-Old Virgin'.

I had a grandmother who would always encourage me to learn about theater and film.

It's extremely difficult to come across quality material. It's a competitive world.

If you are courageous enough to be still, you are a step closer to becoming empowered.

I feel comfortable working with people who are secure in themselves and confident in what they do.

Racism exists everywhere. So when people act surprised about racism, I'm the one that's surprised.

Being able to engage my creativity in a way that makes a difference inspires me more than anything.

Education, introspection, self-love and excellence are the only ways to overcome the wrath of ignorance

I don't want every fan; I'm interested in fans interested in quality work, authentic archetype depictions.

When I was doing 'The Prime Gig' with Vince, we played around so much that the director separated us like children!

I'm not really volunteering for no family films. I really like the sweet spot of being able to be edgy and controversial.

I'm one of those people for whom success is one thing, but significance is another. If I can have both, I'm living the dream.

I'm taking the indie filmmaker's approach to building my career and that approach is developing a relationship with the fans.

I've lived in Paris. I've lived in the Slovak Republic. I've spent extensive time in England, and I've traveled all over Europe.

My goal in life is to bring to the screen really believable depictions that make you think, "Damn, I have to look within myself."

I'd like to change the depictions of life, love, and adventure under what's known as the typical, overused backdrop of Hollywood.

I always try to get as personal as I can with the characters that I play, which is a reason why I don't play a lot of characters.

Wanting an honest opinion about my art from someone whose opinion I respect makes me feel vulnerable. It's a great space to be in.

For my lifestyle, I believe in living 10 times below my means. As a result of that, I have the luxury of working only when I'm inspired.

I haven't really been auditioning. For me is about finding quality work versus finding work. I get a considerable amount of offers everyday.

I do not have a daily routine, but each morning, I try to spend an hour in bed, visualizing positive outcomes for my life, health, and career.

I learned early in life that laughter is a great way to diffuse and uncomfortable situation, so I began to use that as a tool, throughout my life.

When faced with emotional pain, I become still for hours, sometimes days, doing absolutely nothing. It helps me get to the truest source of my suffering.

My experience in the music industry made me very thick-skinned. Your art is something very personal and there's never a shortage of critics when it comes to art.

You know how many times I have to witness the transition from, 'Oh, get away from that thug,' to, 'Oh, wait a minute, that's the guy from 'Weeds'! Hey, can I shake your hand?'

I have the appetite to do different roles that have different backdrops. I'd like to show that there's more to people sitting in cars for reasons other than being police officers.

Hollywood is running out of money and in order to keep geetting a third financed, you have to rely on overseas funding, and in order to do that, you have to get recognizable names.

One of the reasons I moved back to Brooklyn is to get to hang out with the guys I've known since we were 12, 13 years old. Having that sense of community is incredibly important to me.

Writing a funny story is one thing. But writing a funny story that inspires others to venture beyond their level of comfort in pursuit of their greater good is what makes me come alive.

I started out mainstream and then literally made a conscious decision, like, 'I don't have that core black audience on my side.' And then I literally started looking for projects to get involved in.

I don't drive an Escalade; I've never lived on a mansion; I live in a townhouse. Even with my internet business, when I was making just shy of a million and a half a year, I lived in the same house.

My mother is getting up there in age, and sometimes I go visit her in Florida. I cook for all of her friends. Sometimes I have to avoid the table because I do not want to hear what they're talking about.

Consciously or subconsciously, we become slaves to debt and social obligation. As a result, we end up more committed to the minutia and less in tune with the bigger picture: our deepest sense of purpose.

It will be difficult if people can't get past their prejudices; I don't mean Black and White; I mean people automatically assume because a film has a predominantly Black cast, that it is a particular quality of film.

I worked for this company that repossessed cars. Sure enough, the day after I quit, they repossessed my car, but that would probably be my strangest job to date. You have to work your way up to become a hardcore repo man.

Pain is inevitable. It is actually a great opportunity for growth, but when we blame or fail to take responsibility for our suffering, the pain becomes stagnant, and stagnant pain can have a compounding effect if left unchecked.

Because I came into acting late, my references come from real life. That's my biggest inspiration. It's probably the reason I moved back to New York. I'm just a lot more inspired by real life than I am by depictions of real life.

I come from the best era of film I believe; when people were taking chances on films. It's time for us to bring more truth to the story and not necessarily carry a torch for every Black person in America; just tell a story, and a good one too.

When I did 'Think Like A Man', I would run into people who were acting like it was the first thing I'd ever done. I was at the premiere of 'Think Like A Man,' and people were coming up to me, like, 'Man, you're going to get work after this, bruh.'

The only difference between comedy and drama is that, in comedy, I'm going to utilize the tool of creating laughter to deflect discomfort and, in drama, I won't use a tool, but we're going to actually deal with the discomfort and see what comes out of it.

The biggest cardinal sin is not being in the moment, whether in life or on-screen. You owe it to your fellow actor that if they feed you something, you give them an earnest response to what they've said to you as opposed to what you wanted to do before they ever showed up.

Stillness empowers. Being able to detach from all external stimulants - social media, social engagements, TV, alcohol, food, etc. - and face our own silence is an enormous luxury that should not be taken for granted. The most rewarding moments in my life have stemmed from such stillness.

For me, comedy and drama are all the same thing. How the comedy ever even started in my life was that moments got uncomfortable and I felt uncertain of what the outcome was going to be, so I found a way to deflect what I was feeling, or what everyone else was feeling, by creating laughter.

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