Growing up in the ghetto is pretty hard. It's poverty; it's frustration.

Who's coming with me? I don't know where I'm going, but who's coming with me?

Being funny wasn't a career choice growing up, it was my way out of situations; a way to survive another day.

My life growing up was a twisted Bronx version of 'The Color Purple.' It had a much different soundtrack and no trees, but that desperation was the same.

The idea of forever is kind of ridiculous, which is unfortunate because it's kind of a nice thing to say, you know. I think it softens the blow of mortality and having to say goodbye to everything you know and everyone you love and all that kind of thing.

I think the heartbreak of September 11 - America's grief not only over the loss of life but also the loss of our own innocence - has expanded us as people because it has tenderized our hearts. On a psychological level, the American people have matured as a result of that awful day.

My fears are agitated to an extreme degree and the dread of death involves me in a stupor of chilling indisposition.

When I finally got up to Industrial Light And Magic to work on the 'Star Wars' movies as a model-maker, it felt like dying and going to heaven.