When I was growing up, my family was so poor we couldn't afford to pay attention.

I used to bodyguard for Muhammad Ali, Leon Spinks, Sugar Ray Leonard. I used to bodyguard a lot of diamond merchants; I would travel with a suitcase full of diamonds and take them from point A to point B. My reputation grew because I was a professional. I did my job, and I was courteous - a no-nonsense guy.

The blessed of us must save the less of us. I'm blessed, and yeah, I'm planning to go to Heaven.

If you look at my job, my union card, it says 'actor.' It don't say nothing about celebrity, movie star, nothing like that, and that's one thing that keeps me humble.

My prayer is improvised - though like some standard jazz performance, the improv happens within pretty strict parameters - and asks for nothing.

There are a lot of people who consider themselves 'spiritual,' but that can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. I don't really talk about it that often, because there's too much talk in the world. Especially with Christians, there's more proselytizing than there is actual living proof of it. That's kind of sad.

Ours was a never a 'religious' religious home because my parents thought of religion as something you do: it's the way you engage in the local community. That has meant a lot to me.

Just as people can watch spellbound a circus artist tumbling through the air in a phosphorized costume, so they can listen to a preacher who uses the Word of God to draw attention to himself. But a sensational preacher stimulates the senses and leaves the spirit untouched. Instead of being the way to God, his 'being different' gets in the way.