For me, I went from showering at the YMCA in L.A., eating chicken sandwiches and ramen noodles if lucky, and going from couch to couch. I'm a real story. I know the struggle.
— Omari Hardwick
People are fond of that 'crabs in a barrel' mentality, and I'm like, 'No, there needs to be more so we can create more barrels; there doesn't need to be one barrel.'
I'm really nerdy, and I read a lot.
Acting is the art of being and existing, and not being fake.
I would say that the woman's ability to multi-task and to be maternal in instinct, it fosters a different approach to the character that makes sense as an actor.
If your character is just out there acting a fool, viewers are gonna say, 'Why am I watching this?' But if he's whispering, 'I don't really want to die,' there's a level of vulnerability cemented in these bad characters.
I didn't want to just do a show where my character stood out and other characters were flat or one-to-two-dimensional. I wanted everybody to have meat.
I've been writing for years, you know, and when I get to a particular place, city, or different locale, I find myself first of all being challenged by those that love me to write more.
I think what's most important is family.
On 'Being Mary Jane,' I learned to embrace sex symbol.
I don't make a big deal out of playing football at UGA to people who have interviewed me.
I don't think there's a fan out there who hasn't had a family member or known someone personally who's been in the midst of divorce - perhaps not necessarily gotten the divorce or executed it, or perhaps they have - and still, in many cases, they found themselves back with the person that they were married to.
Like anybody who grew up in the Eighties, I cringe at the thought of these movies being remade, because of the corniness and cheesiness of the originals.
I think I'm an athlete who's trained as an actor, and when you smash it all together, you get whatever Omari is doing as a performer right now.
You don't go to church and tell the choir how to sing if you're a visitor.
I'm always like, 'Well, let's not rest on a critical acclaim or on a incredible review or on a great reception.'
It's really rare to come across a character, a show, or a movie that allows you to completely play four or five different characters within a season, let alone a week.
I really had a problem with being 'the man.' I'm past it now, but that was my insecurity. I ran from that. I was cool with being No. 3 on the call sheet or No. 2.
Craft is everything.
There were uncles in my life that definitely knew the street life.
I would say, as loving as I am... I am definitely an extremely temperamental man who has a very large temper.
Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw that I was different. I learned that oftentimes, Spike directs in a sense that he might just stare at you and look at you in a telepathic way of communicating.
I was a 200-pound defensive back on Saturday, but after the season, I was performing 'Lysistrata' or 'Fences.'
I always go into a character thinking, 'If it scares me, I can do it.'
That point of life when I learned I could cook, that always made me understand what cooks felt like feeding other people. It's okay to receive, but it's really cool to give, so food is to me sexy because it's the fact that someone is giving it to someone else.
I've definitely had my moments in relationships where I've been able to say yes, I have been heartbroken, my heart has been broken.
'Power' is a funny thing. Maybe it's a show that draws people in because they are watching people do things they secretly wish they could do or know they could get away with.
I grew up in a two-parent household. We all played sports, all sports, which cost a lot of money. My pops was an attorney; he went to College of the Holy Cross with Clarence Thomas. My mom worked a bit, then gradually came home and took care of us full time.
It's rare for artists to really stare deeply at themselves in the mirror, literally, because there's constantly a mirror on you.
If I could remake any Eighties project, it would be less an action flick than a character-driven drama with a rich story to tell.
I've approached every character I've ever played with a poem, first and foremost.
'Dark Blue' was a really solid show, and it stopped at season two.
Playing a cop goes a long way. I have a lot of friends who are working as actors, and as soon as I started playing military characters or cops, and not the actual criminal that we're chasing on this show, they all said, 'You actually can have a career now.'
I think 'Dark Blue' came to me while I was doing a project in London. I read it, and the character immediately popped out at me.
For me, music was a cathartic way to free me from the nut of Ghost. After working on set for 'Power' for 14 hours, it allowed me to pour my sanity and insanity into the music.
I was at a ballpark as much as I was in school. I was on a basketball court or football field as much as I was in school, so I definitely was receiving mentorship when it came to coaches, my father, my grandfather, and my uncles.
My dad was really complex, and I was raised by that. My mom is really bright - very book bright - and so those things collide... I learned that I could put all of that stuff together in the world of acting, and I could make a dollar at it.
I kept on hearing the voice of God saying if you are going to be the minister that your mom mentioned... then you have to act. My pulpit is acting.
Poetry is almost like my foundation for everything. I almost feel I am a better actor and writer because of it.
I'm a black Catholic raised in Decatur, Georgia, which was very gang-infested. Then, I went to an all-white private high school and excelled in sports and wrote poetry, then played football at the University of Georgia, minoring in drama.
'Power' is really such a good show that I forget I'm in it sometimes.
You know how you can be romantic? You can be romantic by going to a beautiful setting, sitting on a park bench, and getting good ole-fashioned golden arches, a.k.a. McDonald's. That's probably the best I can do romantically.
I realized, 'Oh, it's easier to get what I want if I embrace the sex symbol thing.' Microphones are more in my face, and I can say things about the kids that I mentor and open more access to more doors.
Unlike many Californians or New Yorkers, college football is a religion down south.
I grew up in Decatur, Georgia. We had three boys in the household; actually, it felt like four of us. My pops sort of raised my uncle, too. So, it was four boys and, later, a younger sister.
If I can just be thought of as Omari Hardwick who had a really, really solid career, and whose work is appreciated in its own right, I think that would be a great legacy to leave behind.
I think actors make for very good directors, and I would like to do that one day.
As an actor, I come to set, and I have already broken the character down by writing a poem about the character. I try to write in his voice, the way he would write it.
I tend to want to put my fingers over my ears and not hear all of that, not hear that there are so many fans.
It's an interesting thing to play the heroes of our society, like cops and firefighters. They're the basic heroes that, as little boys and little girls, you look up to as the first heroes of your small, specific community.
