J. August Richards

Their crew for 'Arrow' is just one of the most wonderful crews that I've worked with. I know that actors say that all the time, and it sounds like trash coming out of my own mouth, but it's so true.

I love roles that don't really have a template or a paradigm and force me to create using my own imagination... that really, really turns me on.

I believe that I'm an actor to this day because of 'Star Wars.' I saw 'Star Wars' as a child, and I was completely enamored by it.

The cool thing for me is, I go to a lot of conventions - a lot of science fiction conventions like Comic-Con - and there are always a lot of attendants of color. And I think some people believe that black people or people of color are not into science fiction or hero shows or genre shows.

Oddly enough, I've always really loved Nightcrawler. You know who else they didn't use enough was Phoenix. I just thought her story line was so tragic. I was just really drawn to that character as well.

I've always been able to sense the relationship between two people based on how one person says the other's name!

I feel like my life experience is that of an outsider. Let me explain: my parents are from Panama, and they moved to the United States the year after I was born. They moved into an all-white neighborhood, where the previous black family had a cross burned on their lawn.

I really enjoy working in genre series, because you really have to create the characters.

I love creating characters that people may or may have not ever seen before. But I enjoy the opportunity to try to make something new, and that's when I really come alive as an actor, so I really enjoyed working on 'Arrow.'

Over my career, I've had to do a lot of shows that involve stunts, and I so enjoy stunts.

Whenever I get an audition to do something that is sci-fi-related, it makes me really happy because I realize that I can continue doing the work that I'm doing and continue meeting people all over the world. It does baffle my management team sometimes, though!

Marvel makes you feel like 'Iron Man' will show up at your front door to kill you if you say the wrong thing.

The pilots I did test for, I was the only black actor testing against white actors for parts that were written white.

The interesting thing for me is, if I met Michael Peterson in person, I'd want him to let himself off the hook just a little bit.

Anyone who's trying to be there for their family and trying to take care of their children is a hero to me.

Everything I've ever learned about acting - and I went to theater school - was about playing what the character wants and throwing yourself fully into going after what the character wants.

Panama's a really wonderful country. There's obviously the Panama Canal, which brings a lot of tourism, and a huge American influence; it's just a mix of so many great things: African, Caribbean, Latin American Spanish, all kinds of influences there.

I like to paint, I'm absolutely no good at it, but I'm so comfortable with that because it's good for me to have something to fail at.

My interest in astronomy grew from the play 'Space' that I did, where I had to learn where my character was from. I had to study the stars and figure where everything was and how I got here and all of those things.

I definitely was a big comic collector as a kid.

I thought, 'Oh, this is great,' because maybe someone who does look like me will watch 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' and realize that they can be an actor if they want to be, or they can be a superhero. They can have a hero that looks like them as well.

I went right to the 'Guide to the Marvel Universe,' which has every Marvel character from A-Z, and fortunately, I had every issue. I found 'Deathlok,' read about him there.

I think often times on Joss Whedon's shows he can make you hate a character for a period and then love the character. He does it effortlessly.

I always say that I'm at my best when there's no example of what the character is supposed to be. I thrive when there's not much and I have to create it.

I absolutely love working with David Boreanaz, and Charisma Carpenter I completely adore - she teaches me to dance.