Quotes from Omari Hardwick

I know that Donald Trump is a smart man.

If I can just be thought of as Omari Hardwick who had a really, really solid career, and whose work is appreciated in its own right, I think that would be a great legacy to leave behind.

People are fond of that 'crabs in a barrel' mentality, and I'm like, 'No, there needs to be more so we can create more barrels; there doesn't need to be one barrel.'

I don't think there's a fan out there who hasn't had a family member or known someone personally who's been in the midst of divorce - perhaps not necessarily gotten the divorce or executed it, or perhaps they have - and still, in many cases, they found themselves back with the person that they were married to.

I would honestly say I'm in the turtle's race. My journey is a marathon.

I have very much been a guy who's acknowledged how many women have directed me, have produced... it's been unbelievable.

It's an interesting thing to play the heroes of our society, like cops and firefighters. They're the basic heroes that, as little boys and little girls, you look up to as the first heroes of your small, specific community.

There were uncles in my life that definitely knew the street life.

I was at a ballpark as much as I was in school. I was on a basketball court or football field as much as I was in school, so I definitely was receiving mentorship when it came to coaches, my father, my grandfather, and my uncles.

I was trying to pay the bills with poems, and it was easy to memorize my poems, because I'd be riding my bike in California trying to memorize them before going on stage at a poetry lounge.

When you start out on a project as an actor, you know, you approach the character from the standpoint of maybe writing a list - even if it's a mental list that you make - of the adjectives that the character has or that character possesses.

I'm really nerdy, and I read a lot.

I was going from Furman to the University of Georgia. I transferred to play football.

Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw that I was different. I learned that oftentimes, Spike directs in a sense that he might just stare at you and look at you in a telepathic way of communicating.

It's rare for artists to really stare deeply at themselves in the mirror, literally, because there's constantly a mirror on you.

For me, I went from showering at the YMCA in L.A., eating chicken sandwiches and ramen noodles if lucky, and going from couch to couch. I'm a real story. I know the struggle.

I didn't want to just do a show where my character stood out and other characters were flat or one-to-two-dimensional. I wanted everybody to have meat.

'Dark Blue' was a really solid show, and it stopped at season two.

When it's all said and done, I am secure enough with my manhood to say to the world, 'I am a male actor, and its okay for me to play a gay man.'

What we have as artists is the immortalization opportunity that others don't have, because our work is lasting; it's there forever to view.

As an African-American male born with a couple of strikes against you because of your skin color, I think it's very, very important to have some positive role models around, especially male influences.

Shoes make an outfit; they're like rims for a car.

Life as a poet and actor truly became full circle as I stood on stage as host of 'Verses & Flow' and lived in both of these outfits. It was one of the best experiences of my professional life.

So many athletes who have been close to me have been everything to me.