Quotes from J. August Richards

I like to paint, I'm absolutely no good at it, but I'm so comfortable with that because it's good for me to have something to fail at.

I feel that, as an actor, you're constantly working to become better, which I love, but with painting, I can fail on my own terms. There's a freedom in that, so that's why I love to paint.

As a boy, my favorite show was 'Superman' and my favorite movie was 'Star Wars' - along with other science fiction shows and movies. And I always wanted to fly.

I believe that I'm an actor to this day because of 'Star Wars.' I saw 'Star Wars' as a child, and I was completely enamored by it.

When you're doing superhero stunts, the objective is to look as cool as humanly possible.

I thought, 'Oh, this is great,' because maybe someone who does look like me will watch 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' and realize that they can be an actor if they want to be, or they can be a superhero. They can have a hero that looks like them as well.

I was in fittings for the first costume even before I knew I was even going to be 'Deathlok.'

Anyone who's trying to be there for their family and trying to take care of their children is a hero to me.

I definitely was a big comic collector as a kid.

I absolutely love working with David Boreanaz, and Charisma Carpenter I completely adore - she teaches me to dance.

I feel like my life experience is that of an outsider. Let me explain: my parents are from Panama, and they moved to the United States the year after I was born. They moved into an all-white neighborhood, where the previous black family had a cross burned on their lawn.

I changed my name at 14 because no one outside of my family could pronounce my first name correctly.

In the 'Angel' days, all there was was a community that was like a chat room. If you were looking for feedback, you had to look for it.

The pilots I did test for, I was the only black actor testing against white actors for parts that were written white.

I really enjoy working in genre series, because you really have to create the characters.

I went right to the 'Guide to the Marvel Universe,' which has every Marvel character from A-Z, and fortunately, I had every issue. I found 'Deathlok,' read about him there.

Panama's a really wonderful country. There's obviously the Panama Canal, which brings a lot of tourism, and a huge American influence; it's just a mix of so many great things: African, Caribbean, Latin American Spanish, all kinds of influences there.

Once I found out that I was playing 'Deathlok,' I unearthed my old comic book collection. I was going home for Christmas, and I have a collection of thousands of comics. I was surprised to see that 90% of them were Marvel. So, I wanted to go through my collection and start there.

I always say that I'm at my best when there's no example of what the character is supposed to be. I thrive when there's not much and I have to create it.

Everything I've ever learned about acting - and I went to theater school - was about playing what the character wants and throwing yourself fully into going after what the character wants.

The cool thing for me is, I go to a lot of conventions - a lot of science fiction conventions like Comic-Con - and there are always a lot of attendants of color. And I think some people believe that black people or people of color are not into science fiction or hero shows or genre shows.

What I love about the sci-fi community is that it's the most nonjudgmental, inclusive, diverse environment in the country. There's no group of people that is more diverse and inclusive.

When we wrapped 'Angel,' I definitely had a moment where I thought, 'Wow, that was the best job I'm ever gonna have.'

Gunn, like me, has a James Bond obsession. He would love to be James Bond, and it's a great role that I would love to be, someday.