Dennis Haysbert

“I like to think I'm multi-faceted. Actually, my favorite roles are roles like in 'Far from Heaven.' Y'know. Soft people. Loving people.”

“I played a little basketball, but basketball interfered with theater season. That's when we did our term plays and did nutshell versions of Shakespeare for English classes. And, believe me, I got a fair amount of looks from the guys on the team. 'You're in theater but you can play football?'”

“I would love a combination of action/adventure and... love. And stories told with heart. I would like people to be invigorated as well as moved. People to see the movie and see that. I love to play, y'know, well-rounded characters.”

“On my wall, along with my favorite football players and baseball players, I had Marlon Brando and Sir Laurence Olivier. These were childhood idols.”

“I took one thing to heart that I heard from Sidney Poitier in 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.' And it resonated so much with me. He says: 'Dad, you always looked at yourself as a black man. I look at myself as a man.'”

“I look at Facebook a fair bit. I see what's posted. I see the travesties and illegalities of what police forces do. And I also see and understand that it is sanctioned by the general public - or we would do something.”

“The bottom line is people are people, and the sooner we realise that, the better off things are going to be.”

“I went through a phase where all I was doing was commercials, and not that it was a bad thing, but I was referred to as 'the Allstate guy' as I was walking the streets. Someone comes up to you on the street, you would like them to know your name.”

“I really do believe that was what I was put on this planet to do: to give to people and, through my performances, show them another world - in the case of '24,' to show them what a politician, black or white, should be. Basically, I wanted to be a service to others.”

“I love romance films, especially between people of color, because we don't really explore that enough. I would love to do that.”

“I've done a lot of different things in my life. I've parachuted, done some deep-sea diving. Inasmuch as it's safe to do, I can do it.”

“I grew up in Northern California, and theater is all there was. I didn't know how to go about starting a career when I was 10.”

“I'd like to get into the superhero genre. I'd love to do either a DC or a Marvel character.”

“When you're playing a good character, you have an idea that you're playing the hero and the good guy. Actually, I think you're more stymied playing the good guy than you are the bad guy. As the bad guy, you have no inhibitions. Nothing stops you from doing what it is you feel you have to do. You do it because it's what's required.”

“When you work on big commercial movies, of course there's more money involved and you can still do some good work. But with an independent, you get films that are really close to the writers' and directors' heart. Somehow it becomes a little deeper. A little more meat and not as much flash.”

“I love emotion. I love being in love. And showing that on screen. I think it's wonderful.”

“All of the directors I work with have their own unique gifts.”

“There are always different roles and questions to be asked about certain characters.”

“I don't think it should matter to the American people what color skin is on their president. What should matter is the content of their character.”

“I pride myself on being limber.”