Quotes from Corey Hawkins

I grew up singing, and I played on Broadway to thousands of people, you know what I mean?

On '24,' you don't have time to emote and deal with stuff, because stuff just keeps happening. Every other minute, there's something crazy that's happening that's threatening this country.

What everyone loved about '24' is still there - the clock, the tick, the lean-in factor, the pacing.

Nothing's out of the realm. I think '24' has always keyed into that.

Heading out to L.A., doing this acting thing. You can't rest on your laurels out there. You finish a film, you don't know how it's going to do. You're talking about that next job, usually.

I'll just put it this way: I've struggled enough as a working actor - and, most of the times, a not working actor - to know that anytime you are working is a blessing.

I'm tired of seeing people dying every day; I'm tired of seeing people go to jail for nothing.

To be honest, sometimes you have to know your rights.

Sometimes you just need to raise your voice. And sometimes a little anger is necessary, to be honest.

There's good cops and bad cops, and the good cops have to hold the bad cops accountable. We have to hold the bad cops accountable, too.

If you feel your rights are being abused by the authorities, and you don't say something, sometimes the cops don't know how far to take it. They have a hard job, but at the same time, I think it's just about educating yourself.

I had my foot in both worlds. I knew what I didn't want, and so I had to make a choice, just like N.W.A. made choices.

The only thing that I know how to do as an actor, as a trained actor, is you can't villainize the character you're playing. Whether it's a fictional character or a real character. Because then you operate from that sort of negative point of view, and you can't humanize him.

The challenge is making sure that every single moment is honest, no matter what. It's doing Eric Carter justice. Not trying to fill Jack Bauer's shoes. Not trying to step into Kiefer's legacy.

With '24: Legacy,' there are a lot of people who are super-excited about the show. But there are a lot of people who are very skeptical.

I prefer to do in-person interviews, but it's all a part of the job, and I love talking about these movies so much.

You know how trends go with television. Next year, the networks might not be open to taking risks.

I'm the guy coming from Juilliard.

I know the struggle - trust me. I know how hard it is for us to say 'no' to a lot of things that get offered.

When somebody says, 'Do you want to play Dr. Dre in a movie?' I mean, how do you respond to that? My initial response was 'no' because I don't think I can do it ,and I don't want to be the one to mess it up!

Even before I was working off-Broadway, there were lots of different TV shows that I would actually say 'no' to, and my agents would be like, 'Are you crazy?' but they stuck with me because they know the kind of things that excite me.

The thing with '24' is that because it moves so much, it's a challenge, and sometimes things get revealed about these characters as you go.

I like being the underdog.

The idea of a new hero for a new day sang to me.