It's really humbling and gratifying to see that people are finally realizing that we are talented and we have things to say and that our stories are just like your stories. There's no reason that anybody from Wisconsin or Turkey can't relate to 'Atlanta.'
If you are conscious and really want change in this world, and you don't vote, then what was all the fighting for? All the things our parents and our parents' parents fought for?
I was in a musical for a while, and I sing around the house all the time, but I don't ever think of myself as a singer.
Music has always been a part of my life, and it helps me a lot because it speaks for me when I can't speak for myself.
Acting, for me, was kind of a way of survival, honestly. I'm the baby boy out of four different sisters, and I grew up in a house with so many different personalities that acting was the only way to not go to therapy.
What does it serve any studio to not reflect the lives of people who are giving you money, who are crying out to you, 'Hey, please tell our stories.'
The projects that I've been fortunate enough to do are all projects where I followed my heart. I didn't follow the money or the names. It's all about reflecting my life and my art.
At the end of the day, it's incredibly important to have a show like 'Atlanta' because if we can't stand up for and celebrate each other, then who will? Who will do it better?
'Atlanta' is really trying to put that out there: these are just the lives of these people in this city, and this city is its own breathing, living thing, too. So how do you navigate through life, especially with dreams and aspirations in a world that tells you that you don't deserve to have them.
I never thought that 'Atlanta' would go off and do what it was gonna do. I never thought that I would get recognized for that show the way that I have been.