Mekhi Phifer: A lot of times you'll hear horror stories about actors b...

The beauty of when you watch good television or films is that, yes, you may have a multi-cultural cast but those roles could be anybody - they could be white, they could be black. To show the world that we have more in common than we have different with each other is to me the ultimate goal of all of that. It does help unite in people's mind the thought that people are the same. Yes, there's going to be cultural differences, but for the most part, we are all in the same gang as human beings.

Mekhi Phifer

differences white people

Being producer you're still going to have to sell somebody who's going to give you the money on the idea and everything like that. But it does give you a little bit more control if you're thinking in that creative process; it gives you more control to tell the story you want to tell rather than sort of just reading a script that somebody else wrote and says, "Yes, please, you can hire me for this job." So it's a little bit more hands-on, a little bit more closer to the heart.

Mekhi Phifer

reading heart jobs

My favorite song is Eminem's 'Rap God.' That joint is just incredible, It's six-and-a-half minutes of him just crushing the whole game. It's so different from what I hear if I listen to the radio.

Mekhi Phifer

crush rap song

I'm very comfortable with what I do, but it just seems like yesterday that I just started, at 19, and it's been like a whirlwind ever since. I've gotten to travel all over the world and meet all kinds of people and do all kinds of great things, so it's, like, surreal. It just lets you know how time flies, especially when you're having fun. It seems like time keeps going by faster as I get older.

Mekhi Phifer

time-flies fun people

The first day, in particular, is always one of those weird days because you get ..., you're thrown into this new trailer - here's your wardrobe.

Mekhi Phifer

weird-day trailers firsts

The networks are different so they have a different approach. Obviously, with The Shield - that was on FX so they had a little bit more leeway as far as the dialogue was concerned and even the content and what they showed the viewers, which is a great thing. But we will push it to the limit as far as FOX will let us go; that's for damn sure.

Mekhi Phifer

shields different littles

Even when I was on Curb Your Enthusiasm I wasn't this "over-the-top" crazy character. It was still kind of play it straight but it was funny because the situation was funny. That's kind of how I portrayed things and I like dramas; I like to be able to - because in dramas you can laugh and joke and still be serious, be real. I like the realism of them.

Mekhi Phifer

crazy real drama

I think that there's room to grow, as far as being a person of color in film. I went to the theater the other day, and there's a whole bunch of Valentine's Day movies coming out. And the only ones that you see a lot of us in are us goofing off and clowning around; it's this kind of pseudo-romantic comedy kind of thing.

Mekhi Phifer

comedy kind thinking

I can do comedy but it's a certain type. I'm not a physical comedy guy. I'm not Will Ferrell - there's just this crazy and get naked and run through the thing screaming. That's just not my style; my style is drama or - I'm not slapstick.

Mekhi Phifer

crazy running drama

I have my own method [of acting]. I come from, I've interrogated people; I come from an undercover background, so it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

Mekhi Phifer

acting dog people

I guess it's a personal preference. Me, personally, I like to be able to tell the stories that I want to tell and do the things that I want to do. It takes a little bit more work, but that's what the production side is.

Mekhi Phifer

stories want littles

I want to see my family prosper, see my kids grow old. I would love to keep having a really solid, strong career and just being happy. My life isn't just this business, so there's so many other things that I like to do. I just want to be able to have the freedom to do all of the things that I want to do.

Mekhi Phifer

my-family strong kids

I grew up in a rough environment. You want to be strong and have your presence felt out there. That attitude reflects how people see you.

Mekhi Phifer

strong attitude people

I like to make sure that I'm believable. If I don't believe me, then there's a lot of people that don't believe me, but if I can believe that I'm doing it, then I know the audience will, too.

Mekhi Phifer

audience believe people

Working with great actors - being part of something of that magnitude and not knowing the business and what the business entailed or any of that. I was so wet behind the ears, I didn't know anything. It's, like, you're watching movies, and then here you are in front of those people and working with them. It was pretty interesting.

Mekhi Phifer

knowing people interesting

Actors look at life in a different way. When I meet people, I know that one day I may portray that person or someone like them. It may be a cop or a homeless guy. It helps you to pay more attention to people. Everyone I meet, I retain something from them, something from their personality. It helps me to portray realism in my work.

Mekhi Phifer

day personality work life

I love kids, outings, camping, sports, Legoland, all the Daddy stuff. I love it. I wish I could just do that, but I have to work, too.

Mekhi Phifer

wish work love sports

When break dancing was out, I break danced. When rapping was the thing, I freestyled rap on the street and battled and all that kind of stuff.

Mekhi Phifer

street rap break dancing

When you're working and making money, that's all good, but there has to be something that provides a substance, I think.

Mekhi Phifer

good think you money

With my first son I cut his umbilical cord and everything, so I'm a hands-on father, to say the least.

Mekhi Phifer

say everything father son

A lot of times you'll hear horror stories about actors being incredibly selfish and only wanting themselves to shine, but for me, it's not about just one person. It's about the whole team. That's the way I look at acting. That's the way I look at everything I do.