BRIAN TYREE HENRY

Atlanta has become and has always been a place where you create your own universe.

I stay in contact with my castmates from 'Atlanta' almost every day.

The projects that I've been fortunate enough to do are all projects where I followed my heart. I didn't follow the money or the names. It's all about reflecting my life and my art.

I went to college in Atlanta, so I know that city.

I hope Paper Boi runs for president. I hope he does. Governor, mayor, senator, I hope he does it all. You better believe it.

Sometimes, you need someone to believe in you when you don't believe in yourself.

If you are conscious and really want change in this world, and you don't vote, then what was all the fighting for? All the things our parents and our parents' parents fought for?

My father had one of the biggest vinyl collections I've ever seen.

TV can be a thread between all of us, and it can be a powerful tool to examine life and love and what we all have in common as humans.

People like to use the word 'naivete' as a negative, but not for me.

This is the city that kind of formulated who I am. And, not only that, but to be black in Atlanta is one of the greatest things because you can go anywhere and feel familiar with anyone who's right next to you, from Bankhead to Buckhead.

I discovered that acting gave me this spark, this thing. Honestly, it was a way to survive.

'Atlanta' is really trying to put that out there: these are just the lives of these people in this city, and this city is its own breathing, living thing, too. So how do you navigate through life, especially with dreams and aspirations in a world that tells you that you don't deserve to have them.

I couldn't believe there was going to be a show called 'Atlanta,' because that's my favorite city in the country. It's where I went to college. I have so many great friends that live there. It's where I discovered that I wanted to be an artist.

My mom loved road trips, and sometimes we'd drive down to North Carolina. Though my parents were separated, she wanted me to stay connected with my dad.

I usually get approached by older white ladies of a certain class, with their pearls and, you know, their Talbots on and everything, and they're like, 'We just have to say, we know we're not your demographic, but we love Paper Boi; we really love this show, and we love what you're doing.' It's totally cool.

You can't share your magic with everyone. Your job is to live within your magic. And if other magical people find you, then let's go and make a brew.

My mother had a gorgeous singing voice, and she'd play these amazing vinyls. My favorite was 'But Not for Me,' on the 1954 album 'Chet Baker Sings.'

I think that Atlanta has this huge well of black culture and openness to share all the things that we have made there.

I have been the hugest HBO fan since I was 3, watching programming that I had no business watching as a child.

Music has always been a part of my life, and it helps me a lot because it speaks for me when I can't speak for myself.

What does it serve any studio to not reflect the lives of people who are giving you money, who are crying out to you, 'Hey, please tell our stories.'

On top of trying to find my way in this business and losing my mother and trying to figure out what family meant to me and everything - 2016, there was a lot of anger from me and a lot of anger all around. I think the hardest part was to really realize that all these things, it's worth it.

Aja Naomi is one of my good friends.

There's something about being onstage, man. No matter what age I am or where I'm going, theater will constantly be the thing that accepts me and embraces me.