When I was growing up, I played a lot of soccer. I always wanted to be a good soccer player.

I had a wonderful childhood in Antigua growing up in a family with three other brothers and no sisters, so you can imagine the little fights and scraps we had.

My batting practice would be a guy throwing balls in the way in which I liked it. It was all about getting ball on bat, rather than something whizzing past your ear.

My dad was assistant governor of the prison, so there were times when he would bring some of that discipline home. He was the enforcer, whereas my mother, who was a stay-at-home mum, was always the pacifier.

I met one of my best resources because I cold-called the local FBI office one day early in my career with questions. The agent who took the call knew someone who knew someone who was ex-Army, trained in personal protection. The resulting introduction was one of the best, most enduring friendships I've ever enjoyed.

Growing up I did commercials and things like that, but nothing serious. As I got older, my family is really hardcore into academics. They weren't wanting to necessarily support an acting career; it's a really fickle business, and it can be difficult and unstable. They were rooting for education and the whole nine yards.

I've been many kinds of writers in my career: novelist; tele-playwright; short story writer. As a high-school student, I wrote amateur pieces for fanzines, and I've written for Hollywood.

Happiness doesn't come from being rich, nor merely from being successful in your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy so that you can be useful and so you can enjoy life when you are a man.