Mekhi Phifer

“Eating right has made the biggest difference in my body.”

“I love anything that really pushes the envelope as far as where it takes your mind. When it's well written and brings you into a world that possibly could be, I think that's the most entertaining for me - to see something that could actually take place and causes you to think.”

“It's nice to always have been able to remain consistent. I'm very thankful for that and to work on shows that I can be proud of, and films.”

“'Mekhi' means, sort of, one who loves water, and the relationship with water and how water is important to life... It's a sense of being needed and purpose - you know, we have a purpose on this earth, and we're here to fill that.”

“Toronto is like a smaller, safe New York.”

“Rap is definitely a youthful expression.”

“I've gotten to travel all over the world and meet all kinds of people and do all kinds of great things, so it's, like, surreal. It just lets you know how time flies, especially when you're having fun. It seems like time keeps going by faster as I get older.”

“I loved the extended version of 'Aliens' because it shows just a little bit more that you don't see and what they always show on television.”

“In the early '80s, it was hard to find celebrities you can identify with if you lived in the hood. There weren't any rap videos at the time.”

“I love character-driven, well-written, great storytelling types of films, and I think that 'My Cousin Vinny' just hit the nail on the head with everything. It's one of those movies that, if I'm flipping through the channels, no matter what part it's on, I can watch it. It's just one of my favorites.”

“I'm a soccer dad at heart. I want five kids, and I want to get married. I want to coach Little League.”

“Actors look at life in a different way. When I meet people, I know that one day I may portray that person or someone like them. It may be a cop or a homeless guy. It helps you to pay more attention to people. Everyone I meet, I retain something from them, something from their personality. It helps me to portray realism in my work.”

“I'm a big road trip guy. I'm the guy who gets in the RV and drives across country. And when you do that, you really get to see small-town America.”

“I think, in any artist's mind, you can't just be into yourself. You have to look at the world in an objective view.”

“If you go into something saying, 'I'm the bad guy,' you do yourself a disservice as an actor. It's always about trying to find the humanity in a character.”

“I don't really like hospitals that much. People are sick; sometimes it can be depressing. There's people going through a lot of pain in there. It has that funny smell.”

“Once or twice a week, I try to do some kind of boxing. I'm hitting the bags and jumping rope - all that stuff.”

“I've dated interracially a lot. I grew up in Harlem, so I've dated Latins, Dominican, Guyanese, Cuban, black, white.”

“There's no question that I'm African-American. OK? I'm a black man. We're not going to escape that.”

“When you're working and making money, that's all good, but there has to be something that provides a substance, I think.”