What will your book (Not on Our Watch, co-written with John Prendergast) do to inform the world of what is happening in Darfur? —Jimmy Apungu in Mombasa, Kenya
Well, hopefully the whole point of writing the book was to show not only what led up to the events that are occurring today, but also what is happening today in Darfur. It also includes the reactions to Darfur, specifically what John and I and other have been involved with to address this crisis.
Did your work in the movie Hotel Rwanda prompt you to take a more personal look at Africa? —Ryan DeLaney in Lost Angeles
It is definitely what pulled me into this situation with Darfur. Before I began working on the movie I had very sketchy knowledge about what had happened in Rwanda. It wasn't until I started working on the movie that I began learning about Darfur. I guess it is fair to say that has sort of pulled me into the current.
Can the international community do more to bring awareness to the current situation? —Kolden Simmonds, Toronto
In this country there has been a large grassroots movement that has tendrils in many different areas of influence. It's not just confined to government. Hopefully, the world will say this is something that we will not let stand and that we want to be stewards of humanity.
How do you differentiate between helping the sick or impoverished and helping those in war-torn countries? How do you decide who to help? —Adam Burnham, Austin, TX
I think any help is helpful. I don't think you have to beat yourself up too much about 'who do I help?' and 'where do I start?". I think the desire to help and start is a wonderful thing.
In light of the recent Imus situation, do you feel that the black community is filled with hypocrisy? Do you still think that it's okay for black people to call their friends the n-word? —Millicent in Bronx, NY
Well, I can't speak for the black community given that I am only one member of it and consider myself more a member of the American community. But I don't think it is a question of whether black people should be allowed to use the word or if Don Imus should be allowed to use the word. You do what you do and then suffer the consequences and the repercussions. And those are myriad and not always comfortable. But I believe that attempting to have some sort of a ban on a word is ridiculous and pointless and sometimes typical of the way people want to deal with a controversial issue, rather than meeting it head on.
Is there an actor that you admire or who has influenced you? —Posted Gerald Caraway in Spring, Texas
Some actors have a great body of work, but there are always those dogs stuck in there. So it's really certain individual performances, not individual actors, that stick out in my head. As for those performances, it is hard to get better than Marlon Brando in Street Car or Denzel in X. Deniro in Raging Bull. Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice.