Ron Cephas Jones

“I don't think there's a day that goes by where I go to the supermarket that a woman doesn't come up and want to give me a hug. It's a crazy thing when you're in the freezer department and some woman comes up behind you and says, 'Can I just hug you, please?' When it first happened, it really blew my mind.”

“Life is precious - very, very precious.”

“I think most actors don't start out wanting to be either a lead or a character actor. You just really want to work, whatever manifestation that takes.”

“I'm a Jersey kid originally, and I went to Ramapo State College. That was back in '78.”

“Jazz, and the history of jazz, is the history of America.”

“There's a lot of truth in family relationships.”

“I have a beautiful collection of albums and try to frequent record stores.”

“When you're young, you want things to happen right away. And sometimes that doesn't always develop in the way you want it to. But my thing was to continue to work, in whatever element I could.”

“My daughter gets a lot of her natural music ability from her mother because she's a world-class singer, also.”

“God bless my mother; I know you're looking down on me.”

“I learned a lot about American history though jazz, and that's why I loved American history when I was in high school. I could hear different stories - the story that they would tell in school, and then the story that I would hear in the music.”

“When you know your history, you have a better vision of where you're going. And, when you have that, there's no stopping you.”

“That's my job as an actor - to go on and try to do the work so subtle and so fine and specific that the memories will linger for a long time.”

“I've always loved Harlem and its communities.”

“As we like to say on 'This Is Us,' death is not a release. Our main character has never been alive for the entire run!”

“I have a very close relationship with my daughter.”

“Caliban is one of the most difficult characters to play because there's not a lot of history there. It's sort of a half-animal, half-man, and there's not a lot of background.”

“I can use all the hugs I can get.”

“There's a fine line between lead actor and supporting actor.”

“Acting is revealing the truth that is already within you and that reflects the character that you're doing.”