"Because all of us up here know (and Andy [Serkis], we include you, too....man, you got great timing, boy...great timing). we all know what it's like to be told that there is not a place for you to be featured, yet you are young, gifted, and Black. We know what it's like to be told there's not a screen for you to be featured on; a stage for you to be featured on. We know what it's like to be the tail and not the head; we know what it's like to be beneath and not above. And that is what we went to work with every day. Because we knew — not that we would be around during awards season and it would make $1 billion, but we knew that we had something special that we wanted to give the world. That we could be full human beings in the roles that we were playing. That we could create a world that exemplified a world we wanted to see. We knew that we had something that we wanted to give, and to come to work with every day, and to solve problems with this group of people every day, with this director, that is something I wish all actors would get the opportunity to experience. If you get to experience that, you will be a fulfilled artist. Now...the question of 'will we be around?' — don't give me music!