Jonathan Lynn is one of the last actors Orsen Welles used in a production. It was wonderful. He`s very sharp, very sharp. It`s funny I`ve been asked how weird it was to have a Brit do a church gospel movie.

I understand it all. I can write my own ticket for one or two movies. But if they`re not the right ones, my ticket gets yanked. I understand that`s how it works, and I`m okay with it.

My wife and I have been together since 1986. I graduated in `86 and she graduated in `88. We began dating when she was 17. Actually she turned 18 when we started kissing and stuff.

There are roles I want that my agency might not want me to do because of the subject matter or whatever. Or there are roles that people won`t bring to me because they don`t think I`ll do it. And that is a big strain because an actor wants to act.

I came in there and did everything I had to do and the rest was history. So it was never like me sitting going `Ah, there`s Tom!` To me, it was like that son of a bitch was holding me back from doing what I had to do - on his final audition for Jerry Maguire.

The hardest part was when I was in high school not having a job and always being broke. I had to get to auditions without a car. I either took the bus or walked.

I have never made a decision based on race and never will. I am admiring of my fellow peers, black film-makers and black actors and actresses. When Halle and Denzel won Oscars, I felt pride because I was black, but never did I analyse their win based on colour.

I`m not a prude. On the set, they called me `Butt Naked.`

Now, I have big-money offers on three movies, and I have director approval. That`s kind of scary,` he says. `No directors have been attached. That`s a lot of pressure on me.

It`s a director`s job to tell a story and he`s very well versed in telling stories with a bit of comedy in them and keeping the pace of the movie right and that`s exactly what he did. He was observant of a world he didn`t understand but he told a wonderful story.

The Academy Awards was an amazing night. I know I kind of lost my mind a little bit. I apologize for that. That night went so fast; I can`t remember what I said or what happened.