Top 60 Quotes & Sayings by Mekhi Phifer

I tend to play more true-to-life characters in real situations.

Once or twice a week, I try to do some kind of boxing. I'm hitting the bags and jumping rope - all that stuff.

Anytime you join a show that's been successful, there's a certain responsibility. And a lot of anxiety that, you know, you're bringing the character to life, respecting the show and doing your part. So that you are not the weak link in the chain.

I'm a soccer dad at heart. I want five kids, and I want to get married. I want to coach Little League.

My agents usually get a breakdown of all the projects that are out there. When I got 'Divergent,' they hadn't finished the script. They knew they wanted the leader of the Dauntless to have a certain demeanor and energy. They had me read a short monologue, and I got the part.

Actors look at life in a different way. When I meet people, I know that one day I may portray that person or someone like them. It may be a cop or a homeless guy. It helps you to pay more attention to people. Everyone I meet, I retain something from them, something from their personality. It helps me to portray realism in my work.

I love working with Sally Field, and Steve Buscemi is one of the most giving, talented actors I've ever worked with.

I'm an avid watcher of the Nat Geo channel, where I watch shows about how the planets are formed, and shows about moons, quasars, black holes.

I love anything that really pushes the envelope as far as where it takes your mind. When it's well written and brings you into a world that possibly could be, I think that's the most entertaining for me - to see something that could actually take place and causes you to think.

I always try to bring a certain masculine presence to what I do. That is part of the dynamic.

I almost turned down '8 Mile.' I was due to start 'ER,' and I learned they really wanted me to be in '8 Mile.' I didn't know Eminem; I just knew he was a rapper and saw what everyone else saw in the media. I thought they were just trying to capitalize on his popularity.

I've done 21 films in eight years, and I've said 'No' more times than I've done films.

I know a lot of people who are weak, who are in a perpetual cycle of poverty and being locked up. There are guys from my neighborhood who are in jail or who are dead. It does take a certain strength to know your environment and say, 'I can grow beyond it.'

I do like sci-fi, absolutely. I've watched everything from 'Star Trek' to 'Star Wars' to 'Terminator' - the list goes on and on.

In the early '80s, it was hard to find celebrities you can identify with if you lived in the hood. There weren't any rap videos at the time.

I loved the extended version of 'Aliens' because it shows just a little bit more that you don't see and what they always show on television.

There's no question that I'm African-American. OK? I'm a black man. We're not going to escape that.

Eating right has made the biggest difference in my body.

When you're working and making money, that's all good, but there has to be something that provides a substance, I think.

I definitely applaud Netflix and all of those guys, whether it's Hulu or whoever, for doing original programming.

'Mekhi' means, sort of, one who loves water, and the relationship with water and how water is important to life... It's a sense of being needed and purpose - you know, we have a purpose on this earth, and we're here to fill that.

Wales was great. The people were great, and I had a great time there.

I love kids, outings, camping, sports, Legoland, all the Daddy stuff. I love it. I wish I could just do that, but I have to work, too.

It's nice to always have been able to remain consistent. I'm very thankful for that and to work on shows that I can be proud of, and films.

With my first son I cut his umbilical cord and everything, so I'm a hands-on father, to say the least.

I grew up in a rough environment. You want to be strong and have your presence felt out there. That attitude reflects how people see you.

Being from New York, living in L.A., being in Chicago, you kind of get more of the big-city, melting-pot sort of thing. But when you drive through the country, there's so many small pockets of people that don't experience people of different backgrounds. So what they've seen on television is their baseline.

I think, in any artist's mind, you can't just be into yourself. You have to look at the world in an objective view.

A lot of characters I've played have a certain amount of strength, pride, and leadership.

When I did 'Clockers,' I didn't even think about having a career in acting, I just thought, 'Wow, this is cool. I get to do a little movie.'

I always try to pick and choose projects that will be impactful to someone. From films like 'Clockers' to playing a doctor on 'ER' to doing '8 Mile,' where I'm in charge of the hip-hop battles, I think it affects all kinds of different audiences. And I just try to keep that in mind, to keep people entertained.

When break dancing was out, I break danced. When rapping was the thing, I freestyled rap on the street and battled and all that kind of stuff.

I don't really like hospitals that much. People are sick; sometimes it can be depressing. There's people going through a lot of pain in there. It has that funny smell.

Toronto is like a smaller, safe New York.

I love character-driven, well-written, great storytelling types of films, and I think that 'My Cousin Vinny' just hit the nail on the head with everything. It's one of those movies that, if I'm flipping through the channels, no matter what part it's on, I can watch it. It's just one of my favorites.

I've dated interracially a lot. I grew up in Harlem, so I've dated Latins, Dominican, Guyanese, Cuban, black, white.

I hated how Sam Rothstein got manipulated by Sharon Stone's character in 'Casino.' I mean, I just hate how he gets manipulated; that just gets ridiculous to me. I know it's historic, but I hated that.

When you become an actor, at some point you look for something that brings you back to your roots. You find something that people around your neighborhood can relate to. People that you're close with can relate to.

Rap is definitely a youthful expression.

I've gotten to travel all over the world and meet all kinds of people and do all kinds of great things, so it's, like, surreal. It just lets you know how time flies, especially when you're having fun. It seems like time keeps going by faster as I get older.

I'm a big road trip guy. I'm the guy who gets in the RV and drives across country. And when you do that, you really get to see small-town America.

I'm from Harlem, born and raised there.

I want to see my family prosper, see my kids grow old.

It's always a pleasure when you get to work with people that you actually really like.

If you go into something saying, 'I'm the bad guy,' you do yourself a disservice as an actor. It's always about trying to find the humanity in a character.

Working with great actors - being part of something of that magnitude and not knowing the business and what the business entailed or any of that. I was so wet behind the ears, I didn't know anything. It's, like, you're watching movies, and then here you are in front of those people and working with them. It was pretty interesting.

I have my own method [of acting]. I come from, I've interrogated people; I come from an undercover background, so it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

I guess it's a personal preference. Me, personally, I like to be able to tell the stories that I want to tell and do the things that I want to do. It takes a little bit more work, but that's what the production side is.

Even when I was on Curb Your Enthusiasm I wasn't this "over-the-top" crazy character. It was still kind of play it straight but it was funny because the situation was funny. That's kind of how I portrayed things and I like dramas; I like to be able to - because in dramas you can laugh and joke and still be serious, be real. I like the realism of them.

The beauty of when you watch good television or films is that, yes, you may have a multi-cultural cast but those roles could be anybody - they could be white, they could be black. To show the world that we have more in common than we have different with each other is to me the ultimate goal of all of that. It does help unite in people's mind the thought that people are the same. Yes, there's going to be cultural differences, but for the most part, we are all in the same gang as human beings.

I can do comedy but it's a certain type. I'm not a physical comedy guy. I'm not Will Ferrell - there's just this crazy and get naked and run through the thing screaming. That's just not my style; my style is drama or - I'm not slapstick.

I like to make sure that I'm believable. If I don't believe me, then there's a lot of people that don't believe me, but if I can believe that I'm doing it, then I know the audience will, too.

The networks are different so they have a different approach. Obviously, with The Shield - that was on FX so they had a little bit more leeway as far as the dialogue was concerned and even the content and what they showed the viewers, which is a great thing. But we will push it to the limit as far as FOX will let us go; that's for damn sure.

The first day, in particular, is always one of those weird days because you get ..., you're thrown into this new trailer - here's your wardrobe.

I'm very comfortable with what I do, but it just seems like yesterday that I just started, at 19, and it's been like a whirlwind ever since. I've gotten to travel all over the world and meet all kinds of people and do all kinds of great things, so it's, like, surreal. It just lets you know how time flies, especially when you're having fun. It seems like time keeps going by faster as I get older.

My favorite song is Eminem's 'Rap God.' That joint is just incredible, It's six-and-a-half minutes of him just crushing the whole game. It's so different from what I hear if I listen to the radio.

I want to see my family prosper, see my kids grow old. I would love to keep having a really solid, strong career and just being happy. My life isn't just this business, so there's so many other things that I like to do. I just want to be able to have the freedom to do all of the things that I want to do.

A lot of times you'll hear horror stories about actors being incredibly selfish and only wanting themselves to shine, but for me, it's not about just one person. It's about the whole team. That's the way I look at acting. That's the way I look at everything I do.

I think that there's room to grow, as far as being a person of color in film. I went to the theater the other day, and there's a whole bunch of Valentine's Day movies coming out. And the only ones that you see a lot of us in are us goofing off and clowning around; it's this kind of pseudo-romantic comedy kind of thing.

Being producer you're still going to have to sell somebody who's going to give you the money on the idea and everything like that. But it does give you a little bit more control if you're thinking in that creative process; it gives you more control to tell the story you want to tell rather than sort of just reading a script that somebody else wrote and says, "Yes, please, you can hire me for this job." So it's a little bit more hands-on, a little bit more closer to the heart.