without commitment you'll never start
but more importantly without consistency
you'll never finish it's not easy if it
was easy they'd be no Kerry Washington
if it was easy there'd be no taraji
Henson P pencil me if it were easy
there'd be no Octavius pencil but not
only that if it were easy there'd be no
Viola Davis if or easy there'd be no
Michael T Williamson no Steven McKinley
Henderson no Russell Hornsby it more
easy there'd be no Denzel Washington so
keep working keep striving never give up
fall down seven times get up eight ease
is a greater threat to progress than
hardship ease is a greater threat to
progress than hardship so keep moving
keep growing keep learning see you at
work we tend to base our self-esteem on
what other people think and that's not
really self-esteem self-esteem is
supposed to be how we feel about
ourselves and I was just saying how
dangerous it is to allow other people to
determine how you're going to feel about
you and it's kind of like looking into a
broken mirror you're gonna look in a
broken mirror and then change your face
to try to look good in this defiled
busted broken mirror and it just other
people's opinions there's a really
shitty way to determine how we feel
about ourselves you'll never see a
u-haul behind a hearse I'll say it again
you'll never see you all behind a hearse
I've been blessed to make hundreds of
millions of dollars in my life I can't
take it with
and can you so it's not how much you
have it's what you do with what you pass
and we all have different gifts some
money some love some patience
some ability to touch people but we all
have use it share it that's what counts
not what your drive is not what you're
flying in not what kind of house you
bought your mama dreams without goals
are just dreams and they ultimately fuel
disappointment goals on the road to
achievement cannot be achieved without
discipline and consistency I pray that
you all put your shoes way under the bed
that night so that you got to get on
your knees in the morning the one thing
I'm the most happy about in terms of my
career it's the fact that I got there
but the grace of God first of all but
short of that I got there just by
working hard not partying with the right
people not compromising myself in any
way or cutting any kind of deals just by
working hard just by plugging along
sawing wood as I like to call it I'm a
twenty-year overnight sensation I don't
get life mixed up with making a living I
was there for all four my children being
born
and the first one was born I recognized
the difference between life and making a
living their life you know our family is
life you know acting is making a living
what do you think the biggest difference
between doing a play and doing I mean
it's a cliche question but I'd be
interested to know your answer I think a
part of what viola just said is that you
get to dig deeper and you get another
day and you get the energy you do a
movie and it's 200 people that are used
to it and they don't care and you
everybody's doing their job and it comes
in a theater somewhere and you know you
picking your nose at home somewhere
clipping your nail there's no energy
right when I was on Broadway five years
ago with Julius Caesar I made a decision
to sign autographs every night what I
did as I rub my knees only because my
knees are bad it's hard for me to stand
but well you know I wanted to say thank
you it was my way of saying thank you
and the first night it was like five
thousand people out that's okay with me
everybody who has play bills from our
show because people were just watering
up the bar
you know second Street honestly were
signing for energy and I was out there I
want to have every night every show but
the energy you got back two stories into
five little old ladies who who just
drove in from Detroit and I'm like well
what y'all doing tonight and we getting
back in the car baby we got to go back
tonight and you know a little 84 year
old lady was like baby if I was three
years and I say this also because I hope
it happens with this play we had some
high schools come we had one school from
somewhere I forgot where and they were
doing julius caesar and some young kid
was like well you know my buddhist is a
big dick he's more the classic stoic but
it was great to engage in in exchange
with these young people with it was
there was an energy i got more from it
than I gave to to the people that I
signed for that's you know you don't get
that you know the odd thing about
success in film is the budgets get
bigger you make more money but they
become more formulaic so you don't get
the opportunity so I God willing if I
stay around long enough this is what I'm
gonna be doing you know you're always
affected by opinion but the more
opinions there are a view the may the
more I the less I look at them because I
just can't live my life based upon what
other people think about so I can't
concern myself too much with what other
people think you know it's just not
healthy I don't think I can I could
continue to do what I do if I was
constantly worrying about what somebody
thought about it
and anything you want good you can have
so claim it work hard to get it when you
get it reach back pull someone else up
each one teach one
don't just aspire to make a living
aspire to make a difference you don't
have to compromise yourself you know
it's this something you don't feel good
about that don't do it the most
important choices I made was to say no
and I said you know many a time to films
that I just did especially girly on that
just didn't feel comfortable with they
they it was one script that was brought
to me I called it couldn't kill
[Applause]
like he was accused of raping this fight
in the 40s and they would they tried to
hang him but he didn't die they're like
it's a company like it
so I actually called who I was fortunate
at that time to instill to be able to
call and I said you know this movie make
it I'm sick and they offered me six
hundred thousand dollars to play it
he said to me and I'll say this to you
he said the first two or three or four
films you make in this industry dental
will determine how you proceed he said
I'm not going to tell you what to do but
remember that the first three or four or
five times you may determine how you're
perceived I turned it down I've turned
money down I needed I turned it down six
months later I got try freedom if you
don't feel like you should do it then
don't do it because you don't want to be
you know you don't want to be a negative
energy on the set that's how I feel
something you know and doing this does
not mean to slap somebody the second day
I think the most important decisions you
can make as an actor actress is staying
up and saying no you don't have to take
your clothes off if you don't have to no
one put God first
[Music]
put God first in everything you do
everything that you think you see in me
everything that I've accomplished
everything that you think I have and I
have a few things everything that I have
is by the grace of God understand that
it's a gift in everything you do if you
think you want to do what you think I've
done then do what I've done
[Music]