"When I was younger, I won a radio at a church raffle." — Gbenga Akinnagbe

I did a movie called 'The Savages' with Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, where I played a nurse, and it showed me in a different role from what I played on 'The Wire.' It showed my range as an actor.

I don't need to be someone famous or George Clooney. I don't need to be any of these people to get involved in my community or reach out to one nationally.

'Home' may be the best part and best movie I've ever had. I loved it.

Growing up, I was in and out of trouble in group homes and other institutions, and when I was 14, I was locked up in a psychiatric hospital for a number of months for behavioral problems.

Whether it's someone struggling with mental illness, someone struggling with poverty or struggling with their own limitations in their social behaviors, for some reason, I'm drawn to characters like that.

I like writing, and I enjoy it. It's painful. You can't get around the pain of writing. I'm still trying to balance on what I think is my creative habit. It varies, but I do know that I need to continue. It helps me with my acting, and the writing helps me be invested in a different way.

My grandmother was a Muslim. My mother is Christian. And I don't know what I am, but I believe in God.

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When I was younger, I won a radio at a church raffle.