Antwone`s story was a story of hope and that`s what appealed to me. I needed hope myself at that time. I think all actors give up at some time and think they`re never going to make it.

It`s a story about victory that will touch the lives of everyone who watches it. It`s powerful.

He`s looking for the president`s kidnapped daughter; everybody he calls on to help him is busy, but lo and behold, you look across the room, and I`m waiting for that action.

Then I was working in a store in Newark, New Jersey, and I saw an actor in person, and I got so excited. My whole day changed. That`s when I decided to challenge myself to make my dreams become a reality.

Oh, my God! My wife and I, boy, we got down that night. On a personal note!

I went to college for one semester, and I took every subject I could, and I ended up failing. So I thought to myself, Ever since I was a kid, I`ve loved expression - and that`s when I started thinking about acting.

Denzel Washington invoked confidence. When you have confidence, you can do anything. And that`s what happened. I learned about being honest and keeping it true, keeping it true in my performance.

Denzel`s quality, I think, is his faith. You have all the action in your head and you have to believe in it and just do it. That`s what he does and that`s what he taught me to do.

I think it`s time to do clean-up for a generation. I believe this is one of the movies that hits home for all colors and all races. Everybody I talk to, black or white, suburban, rich or poor, can relate to rejection, can relate to not having a father or a mother.

I had a lot of fun with Val Kilmer. He`s like a big kid.

I was working at the store on the Sony studios in Culver City. And I was literally holding a shirt when they came in and told me I`d got the part! It just shows dreams do come true.

Spartan is about this elite unit of the armed forces named the Delta Force. I play a protege of Val Kilmer`s character, and he kind of gives me a hard time.

I tried to copy some of his mannerisms at first but it didn`t work. And then I just let the spirit of the character grow in me and it just took its rightful place. I started to speak the lines and it felt right.