Mike Colter quotes:

Ridley Scott was part of the production team on 'The Good Wife.' I auditioned on my iPhone, and it moved very quickly after that, as they thought I was right for the role, and pretty soon I was filming in Iceland for two months.

I'm always game for creating a new character, and I liked the idea of putting something new into the 'Halo' universe.

I hate the gym, so I try to diversify my workouts with swimming and basketball. Indoors, it's less boring than running. I do find that diet is key. I eat lots of lean protein, no soda, no fast food or fried foods, and a lot of water. But I love food and often cook.

Marvel does a fantastic job about bringing human stories - because you're telling big stories with a heart at the centre of it - and that's what connects all of the characters to our audience members.

Dialogue is not always the best way to show emotion, to show your thought process, or to reveal yourself, as a character.

As for facial hair, I think I decided it was a good look after graduate school. I always shave it myself and trim my own beard. I change the look depending on the role. For 'Million Dollar Baby,' I had no facial hair. For 'Men in Black 3,' I had no facial hair but did wear a wig.

As artists, we are so not in control most of the time of the content or the narrative of our characters, and sometimes writing takes a turn and it's not something we necessarily have control over. It's just a lot of random dumb luck, so when things click, you've just got to enjoy it.

The writers are very good about misdirection and changeups, and that's what's great about it. We always think we know what's going to happen and then they throw a curveball that you don't see coming.

I've always wanted to be on a show that's well respected and had critical acclaim and that people like to watch, and at the same time find something that, for me, as an actor, is interesting and challenging.

As an actor, you're trying to capture the nuances of real life, but voice work is almost over-acting.

As an actor, you learn, every time you work.

Auditions are great, and you definitely want to continue to make progress as an actor, you want to continue to see some advancement in your career. But when you get out there, you don't realize how many auditions you have to go on before you actually get work.

Comic book heroes are an important part of our culture.

Harlem is really a melting pot for a lot of different people.

I don't have social media so I'm kind of in a bubble, but I hear there's a lot going on.

I think when people talk about art imitating life, you're in real time.

As an actor, you just want to continue to work on things that you like. You can be in this business a long time and consistently working and just be totally artistically unfulfilled.

The big budget films have money to do things that are not necessarily essential but sure are comforting. The catering is usually much better. And you have way more of anything you could possibly need. You definitely get a trailer. My shirt and suit for 'Million Dollar Baby' were tailor made.

As a male, I thought the female voice was so strong, unique, real and accessible to most females. In some way, shape or form, they felt like they could relate to it, on some level, because they went through some form of unspeakable horror like what Kilgrave did to Jessica [Jones]. That, in itself, is something that most people shy away from, even in shows that are on cable or in movies.

As an actor you just want to continue to work on things that you like. You can be in this business a long time and consistently working and just be totally artistically unfulfilled.

As an actor, I need to get excited about something that I can actually relate to.

As professionals, we just try to keep the jokes to a minimum, when we're in a certain situation. When we're not doing that, we're joking.

History repeats itself over and over again, but most of us have short memories.

I don't have a routine, but I have used meditation to just decompress and focus.

I don't practice yoga, but it's on my list of things to try again. I gave it a shot, but the class was too advanced for me, and I felt overwhelmed and a little embarrassed.

I met some people in college and I kept cracking away until someone pointed me in the right direction.

I rarely feel like I'm in chaos, but when I am, I usually [retreat] and try to find the eye of the storm; if I'm still and listen and don't engage, maybe the chaos will subside.

I see fans all the time. They're always very complimentary and they're always very eager to talk and to share their experiences or get a selfie. They're really, really loyal. And intense.

I try to stay incognito as much as I can. I don't go places that people would expect to see me because I'm trying to lay low.

I worked at a group home for a survival job years ago, and kids who have a rough home life have always tugged at my heart-strings. I also care a lot about animal cruelty.

If things are not working out, they just stop going forward.

I'll get a nice little break, after doing Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Whether I'm in [his show], I don't know, but there's The Defenders.

I'm a very un-excitable person. I always take things with a grain of salt, I'm always very even-keeled, and I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I'm actually filming all the time, and I don't have much time to do anything. I've always been that way.

I'm pretty relaxed on what people should be able to do as long as they're not hurting anybody else.

In real life, people end up doing things because it's convenient and it works for them. You don't get up every day regretting what you're doing.

It's a long arc and a long storyline, and I think it leaves us in a great place to see how we interact again, whether that be for The Defenders, Jessica Jones Season 2, or whatever. We'll see. I don't know.

It's hard to articulate what everybody else is feeling.

I've always wanted to be on a show that's well respected and had critical acclaim and that people like to watch, and at the same time find something that for me as an actor is interesting and challenging.

I've never really been into doing a lot of social media, but it's a great way for people to talk amongst themselves on a large platform and to have a large conversation with people who also enjoy the same thing.

Jessica Jones is very unique, and we are all in awe of the response from the public. It seems that everyone connected with the character, and we enjoyed shooting it.

Law enforcement has always had informants and people they've had to deal with, who walk a certain line. They're choosing between the lesser of two evils. They're befriend one person to gain access to another person, who's a bigger fish.

Love, for me, is always wanting the best for the other person even if it's not what's best for you.

Most of the people you look at in the early days of Harlem - the zoot suits, the music, the style of fashion, the vibrant colors - that's all influences from the south.

My family, they're not really that involved in what I do. Career-wise, they're very supportive. They're involved after the fact. I don't tell them anything usually until I'm finished filming it or mid-way through filming it.

My mother wanted to be an actress. She wanted to follow her dreams and she never really got a chance to do that. I feel like I'm following her dream in a way. She's proud of me for doing what I wanted to do, but at the same time, I'm kind of taking up where she left off.

Never say "never" about anything, because if you do, life has a way of humbling you.

Never take anything at face value. Dare to question and seek the truth.

So often, when you're playing the lead in your own show, it is all about you.

Some people get divorced, they leave the person for a couple of years, then they remarry. Relationships are very, very strange.

Sometimes when you do things right, there's no results.

Sometimes you meet someone at an inopportune moment and it doesn't work out, but then you see them again five years later and you're in different places and it's a better time.

The awkward thing is the people in the room besides us. It's not us. It's just the 20 or 30 people that are around on set, who normally wouldn't be on set. That's always interesting.

Things don't happen that fast in real life.

This show [Jessica Jones] was exploring the aftermath, and that is unique. You're sitting there going, "I know what happens. This is the aftermath." You watch her daily life and how she dealt with people, like new prospects for love or friends that were close to her, but she didn't know if she could trust them or if they were enemies.

We pride ourselves on all being unique shows.

We're dealing with that question now, in the media. How does the judicial system work? There's never going to be a clear-cut answer, but it's a conversation and a conflict in the community. It's not a white thing or a black thing. It's a society thing and a culture thing, and we've gotta figure it out.

What I enjoyed about being in the world of Jessica Jones, as Luke Cage, is that I wasn't front and center because it was Jessica Jones' story, but it allowed me to find the character from a different perspective.

When I find material that gives me a natural yet unique character point of view and has well- developed characters throughout the script, it makes the hairs on my arm stand up.

When something tragic happens in the world and I realize that, for the most part, I am powerless to stop it.

When you look at Harlem - and I lived there almost five years - most of the people who live in Harlem are transplants. They migrate to Harlem from another place. A lot of them are from the south, so they bring those southern influences with them.

When you're casting, you get a page or two - just enough to do the scene. Now that you're in the world, you get the whole script.

When you're the lead and on most of the call sheets, some people have expectations of you and whether you like it or not, you kind of set the tone.

You see a lot of Baptist churches in Harlem, you see a lot of the same kind of cuisine, the soul food - there's a lot of places that remind you of its southern roots.

A lot of times in life, women want to talk, but men don't want to listen, and if they do want to listen, they turn it back to themselves.

I guess it's a bit cliché, but as an actor, I really admire good writing. There are a lot of great ideas out there, but it's the execution that really makes it work.