Mike Colter

“Not being white has never prevented me from enjoying Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. These are heroes of mine.”

“Harlem for me is Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C., in one place. You have very significant churches that have had national ramifications. At the same time, you have politics. On top of all that, you have entertainment because you have 70 years of music that came out of here, and if you scratch that, gangsterism happens.”

“When you're acting, it's all about you and the person in front of you, and I think in life we forget to apply the same technique, and we get caught up in the panic of what we're trying to do - how overwhelmingly daunting the task of trying to become an actor is.”

“I think all actors, when they're not working, say, 'If I can get to this point where I'm working on a consistent basis, I'll be happy.' Of course, then, if that happens for you, and you're lucky, you find some other reason to complain. There's a joke: 'If you want to hear an actor complain, give him a job.'”

“The work is done; it is what it is. You do the work, and you hope people like it, and if they don't, don't read it. I don't read reviews. I don't have social media, so I'll stay away from that; it's easy.”

“I always make a joke: 'Don't look into the future; it's too bright.' That's as positive as I can be.”

“I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll act differently. Are they the same person? Sure, but do they act different? Yeah.”

“When Barack Obama got elected, I remember being in Harlem specifically. I remember watching that whole part of town just swell. People walked the streets, but it wasn't a riot - it wasn't mayhem. It was a unified feeling of euphoria.”

“Dialogue is not always the best way to show emotion, to show your thought process, or to reveal yourself, as a character.”

“Marvel does a fantastic job about bringing human stories - because you're telling big stories with a heart at the centre of it - and that's what connects all of the characters to our audience members.”

“I think anyone in New York City could look at Luke Cage and say, 'Hey, this guy could help me out.' I don't want him to just seem like a relevant hero for only black people.”

“I did want to play a superhero. I mean, who doesn't when you're a kid? I would have loved to be a superhero. But as I'd gotten older, I wasn't ready to jump into tights and put the cape on. I was hoping to play something a little more grounded and realistic.”

“The black community wants to buy things and want to see themselves portrayed in a certain way. And if they don't like what they see, then they won't spend their money. Everyone's not gonna always relate to Captain America; everyone is not going to always relate to Thor. A lot of characters just don't speak to them.”

“I pretty much spend most of my time in the gym bulking up and staying fit and putting muscle on so I can play the part of Luke Cage, but I've never been a gym rat.”

“It's a part of my DNA that I've never really taken time to revel in success.”

“As an actor, you just want to continue to work on things that you like. You can be in this business a long time and consistently working and just be totally artistically unfulfilled.”

“Acting, really, is a lot of mental fatigue, emotional fatigue, concentration... it's mentally draining.”

“I hate the gym, so I try to diversify my workouts with swimming and basketball. Indoors, it's less boring than running. I do find that diet is key. I eat lots of lean protein, no soda, no fast food or fried foods, and a lot of water. But I love food and often cook.”

“I'm always very even-keeled, and I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“If you've ever been to Harlem, there's always something playing on the street, and there's this energy that feels different to anywhere else in New York.”