Omari Hardwick

Life as a poet and actor truly became full circle as I stood on stage as host of 'Verses & Flow' and lived in both of these outfits. It was one of the best experiences of my professional life.

I was raised looking at women who were strong, and they weren't really into playing race cards or playing gender cards. I didn't grow up around women who were like, 'Well, let the boys do that, and let the girls do that.' I didn't really see that in my house.

Women are so necessary for us in terms of support.

I'm always like, 'Well, let's not rest on a critical acclaim or on a incredible review or on a great reception.'

Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.

Playing a cop goes a long way. I have a lot of friends who are working as actors, and as soon as I started playing military characters or cops, and not the actual criminal that we're chasing on this show, they all said, 'You actually can have a career now.'

The way the recession has affected Hollywood, a lot of actors that had robust opportunities before in film no longer have such plum options, so cable has done a good job of becoming a happy medium for artists deemed film actors.

You know how you can be romantic? You can be romantic by going to a beautiful setting, sitting on a park bench, and getting good ole-fashioned golden arches, a.k.a. McDonald's. That's probably the best I can do romantically.

I think the universe just brings people around others they find to be interesting.

I don't think there's a fan out there who hasn't had a family member or known someone personally who's been in the midst of divorce - perhaps not necessarily gotten the divorce or executed it, or perhaps they have - and still, in many cases, they found themselves back with the person that they were married to.

I got in trouble for saying I would move my family to Europe, but I said it.

I was a 200-pound defensive back on Saturday, but after the season, I was performing 'Lysistrata' or 'Fences.'