When you’re playing a superhero, you’re almost playing two different people. I separate when I’m playing Jefferson Pierce and the days when I’m playing Black Lightning. Cress Williams Read Quote
I grew up watching television. I’m a television addict. I had all these heroes, but they didn’t look like me. Cress Williams Read Quote
On ‘Black Lightning’ I have a stunt double who’s a lot younger than me. The fighting style on the show is heavily martial arts-based, and I know boxing; I don’t know martial arts. I also have a really bad knee, and he’s been doing martial arts since he was 6 years old, so I’m not thinking, ‘No, I can do that! I can make that look cool!’ Cress Williams Read Quote
I have no problem telling people I have a great stunt double. I’m not that guy who’s like, ‘I do all my own stunts.’ Like, no, no, no – it’s make-believe, and I’m not in the mood to die. I’m not in the mood to get hurt. I have a wife and kids! Cress Williams Read Quote
Back in the day as a kid, I was really drawn to the Hulk because it just felt so human and was probably one of the first stories that I felt emotionally invested in and not just thought it was really cool. You really feel for that person and put yourself in that situation. Cress Williams Read Quote
I realized that being that No. 1 on the call sheet sets the tone. That knowledge, it’s important to me that everyone – not just actors, not just myself, but everyone – have a workplace that they enjoy, where they feel respected, that they have creative input, and that they feel is a place that they’re excited to go to work. Cress Williams Read Quote
There are aspects of small town life that I really like – the routine nature of it, the idea of people knowing you and your likes and dislikes. Cress Williams Read Quote
What’s great about acting is that there’s never a moment when you’re like, ‘OK, I got this, I understand this.’ You’re portraying life, and it’s a craft that only gets better with time – kind of like playing a musical instrument: the more you get to play it, the better you are. Cress Williams Read Quote
I come from theater, so I’m used to the hierarchy of an actor is just on the ladder, and above that is a director, and above that is a producer, and above that is a writer. But on a television show or film, the whole call sheet thing and being No. 1 on a call sheet, people look to you and almost expect you to exercise this power for good or bad. Cress Williams Read Quote
I love when I get compliments on my shirts all the time. I’m a t-shirt guy, and I think nine times out of 10, they have some kind of super hero character on them. Cress Williams Read Quote
