We have a particular philosophy in the casting room that we don't really tell the actors - the actors tell us.

In the past, once a movie musical was made, it was believed that you were left with that version, good or bad, for posterity.

I think maybe the most important thing that we have to say is that people don't often talk about network executives being brave. You don't talk about them as having integrity and a higher purpose, because it's a job... except for Bob Greenblatt. He is a theatre person. He loves and understands it.

People think, 'Oh, you're doing 'The Wiz' because 'Empire' is such a big hit.' The truth is, staging this musical has been a dream of ours since the '90s, but the rights were tied up. It's just coincidental that, this year, when we were choosing a new musical, the rights were cleared.

My ultimate goal is for that next generation coming up, who didn't see me play, go, 'Oh, he used to play football?'

I also watched a lot of football and sports. I haven't had much time to watch too much TV lately.

I know when I have kids, when I'm older, I'm going to encourage them to play sports because I think it teaches you a lot. It teaches you discipline, teamwork, and that there's really no 'I' in team.

The main thing for me is to consider sport at an equal level as you would consider mathematics or poetry at school. It's another place where you can send your kids; they can have fun, but you can expect them to have good teachers, and you can expect them to progress.