Jimmy Smits: I thought I hit the jackpot with' L.A. Law,' but to have...

For minority actors, developing our own projects has to be the eventual path. We have a lot of stories to tell and a really unique voice. But none of that is going to be heard as long as we're just the hired hands, acting.

Jimmy Smits

voice unique hands

I am a firm believer in education and have worked very hard to tell young Latinos that they must go to college and that, if possible, they should pursue an advanced degree... I am convinced that education is the great equalizer.

Jimmy Smits

degrees college education

You have to find what makes you stable in the storm. Then, no matter what's happening round you, no matter what the hype or the publicity, you can still manage to make leaps in your work as an artist.

Jimmy Smits

hype storm artist

What struck me more than anything is how the people that are involved in government start out from a place of really wanting to do well, no matter what kind of political spectrum they're on, how they have to hold onto that warm fuzzy place in their heart while they're stuck in the machine.

Jimmy Smits

political heart people

Just give me a good role that allows me to hone my craft and I am a pretty happy camper.

Jimmy Smits

crafts roles giving

People don't walk around thinking of themselves as bad people. You're part of the environment that you grow up in, and there can be decency in that. I always try to find a little glimmer of that, in anything that I do, because you can find places where there's humor or lightness in something that's deep and profound, and that tends to resonate more and make people more human. As an actor and performer, I think it resonates more with the audience when you do have the payoff.

Jimmy Smits

growing-up people thinking

You have to be like a sponge and use what you can and how it relates because TV is fluid. Things change on a week-to-week basis. Those are the things that I do with every character. If I'm involved in a boxing movie, I go see fights and learn about boxing. It's part of what we do.

Jimmy Smits

boxing fighting character

There are no right and wrong ways to work in this business, but there are some basic common-sense practices. Work very, very hard and always be prepared; never give up; and once you get the job, give them more than they ever expected: - Shine!

Jimmy Smits

giving-up practice jobs

It's less about the physical training, in the end, than it is about the mental preparation: boxing is a chess game. You have to be skilled enough and have trained hard enough to know how many different ways you can counterattack in any situation, at any moment.

Jimmy Smits

chess-game motivational-sports games

It's great to be able to play the bad guy role because you always get a lot to do, but I'm always looking at the why. How does a person get to that particular point? It's those little cogs in the wheel that make it interesting for me to play. Ultimately, I hope for the audience to be engaged with it because it is going to take a turn.

Jimmy Smits

guy play interesting

I'm always sitting down and talking to people that are doing independent features. It depends on the project and the quotient of the people that are involved. There are a lot of different reasons [to do something], like a particular script that resonates with me, in a particular way. It may not so much even be about the part, but what the script has to say.

Jimmy Smits

independent talking people

There's something so familial and intimate between a boxer and his trainer.

Jimmy Smits

trainers boxers intimate

I'm an actor. I love to act. That's my job. I'll leave the politicking to others.

Jimmy Smits

actors jobs

I never thought television would or could be a long-term commitment.

Jimmy Smits

long television commitment

Celebrity hits like a bomb. So you have to find what makes you stable in the storm. Then, no matter what's happening around you, no matter what the hype or the publicity, you can still manage to make leaps in your work as an artist.

Jimmy Smits

bombs

In my college years, I worked as a union labor organizer. I was just one of the many workers trying to do my part to help the community.

Jimmy Smits

community college years

If you're afraid to live your life in a glass bubble, how can you do what we do in this industry?

Jimmy Smits

live-your-life industry glasses

I've been in California for about 15 years now. You're always in your car and insulated. I miss New York so much.

Jimmy Smits

new-york missing-you years

I've been very lucky to work on a wide variety of projects, including two long-run and top-10 dramatic television shows. That is why it is so important to offer a helping hand to the next generation of young Latinos coming up behind me.

Jimmy Smits

running two hands

There are a lot of doors that still get shut, and there are a lot of walls to still breach. But, the stuff that does come across to me, or that I hear about or read about, that I'm willing to go out there and fight for, I still have to go audition. I do have a certain leeway to choose, from that group, what I want to say, as an artist.

Jimmy Smits

wall fighting artist

I thought I hit the jackpot with' L.A. Law,' but to have [' NYPD Blue' ] come around the way it did, for whatever the artistic reasons were, it didn't happen, and then it wound up that it came back to me. It was just like, I can't [ say no ]. That was like' Lightning can't struck twice.'.