Mike Colter

“I'm pretty relaxed on what people should be able to do as long as they're not hurting anybody else.”

“Netflix shook it up, brought this whole new generation of people who said, 'I watch things when I want to watch, how I want to watch, where I want to watch, and that's something that no one's going to ever forget.' This has changed the game completely, and I think it's the tip of the iceberg.”

“My family, they're not really that involved in what I do. Career-wise, they're very supportive. They're involved after the fact. I don't tell them anything, usually, until I'm finished filming it or mid-way through filming it. It's just a job, and I approach it that way.”

“I like to take a break, but at the same time, I think most actors are not very good at sitting around doing nothing, because we like to work.”

“I'm embarrassed to say that I don't have a lot of hobbies. It's not because I don't have interests; it's just that I don't have the time.”

“New York City is a big city but a small city when it comes to theater.”

“We are in a diversity age. I talk about the lack of diversity for black Americans, but what about the Asian Americans? You don't see them very often. They have a show called 'Fresh off the Boat.' No one is talking about that show. I saw it, and I found that show completely offensive, but I'm not Asian American.”

“What makes Luke Cage unique isn't him being black. Yes, he is black, but he has other things.”

“Some people in America don't ever interact with black people outside of television, so we should give them real, believable characters.”

“You can have all the intentions you want and try and guide the narrative, but the narrative is irrelevant because it's how the public digests it that will be indicative of what the series will ultimately be.”

“Before I starred in 'Million Dollar Baby,' I wasn't really a boxer. I just worked hard to learn as much as I could before we were there on set.”

“We all act differently in certain places. We don't want to admit it, but we're different where we grew up than we are with our family and than we are with the guys that we went to college with or our fraternity brothers. People just exist differently. It's small, subtle things, but different colors come out. That's all there is to it.”

“What I like about my character: Luke Cage is a person first and foremost. We do have other black superheroes, but he's important because he's touchable. Luke has moments when he has to try to forget his pain, but then, unlike the rest of us, he's also able to channel that frustration into fighting bad guys. Real martyrs aren't trying to be martyrs.”

“I'm really starting to get bored with myself, doing the same workouts. 'Oh here we go again.' I need someone to crack the whip. I need someone to kick my butt because sometimes I can end up taking it pretty easy on myself.”

“There's no book to figure out how not to become a victim of police brutality.”

“I didn't sit around thinking, 'I'd love to play Luke Cage,' but when the character was presented, I did my research, and I was just like, 'This is a real gift. He's a great character, and I'm happy to have a chance to take a crack at him.'”

“As for facial hair, I think I decided it was a good look after graduate school. I always shave it myself and trim my own beard. I change the look depending on the role. For 'Million Dollar Baby,' I had no facial hair. For 'Men in Black 3,' I had no facial hair but did wear a wig.”

“When I was playing Bishop, I would always walk on set thinking, 'This is my show; this is a show all about me.'”

“Harlem is really a melting pot for a lot of different people. When you look at Harlem - and I lived there almost five years - most of the people who live in Harlem are transplants. They migrate to Harlem from another place.”

“I'm a bit bored of going to the gym! I'm like, 'Someone put me out of my misery - I can't do this anymore!'”