Ato Essandoh

Just the little bit that I've learned about Judaism, I didn't realize how, dare I say, intense that religion is as far…

— Ato Essandoh

Macklemore gets a Grammy over Kendrick Lamar. I still can't get over that. But again, it's not Macklemore's fault. It's the way…

— Ato Essandoh

I was a chemical engineer in school. And, randomly, an ex-girlfriend dared me to do a play.

— Ato Essandoh

When you're a guest star on a movie or a TV show, I always say it's like being invited to a family…

— Ato Essandoh

If you're going to sign a contract, there are things you have to understand you might have to do. If you don't,…

— Ato Essandoh

'Copper' is my first period piece. It's funny because I've been doing a lot of episodes of 'Elementary' with Johnny Lee Miller…

— Ato Essandoh

Traveling, I've met Ghanaian people who have seen me in minor stuff, but they see the name Ato Essandoh, and they recognize…

— Ato Essandoh

It's funny because as much as I've done Dr. Freeman, I guess because I shave right afterwards, people don't recognize me necessarily…

— Ato Essandoh

Growing up near Scarsdale, I should have had at least one Jewish girlfriend. Maybe at some point it'll happen.

— Ato Essandoh

The first time I was onstage, I felt like the audience was breathing with me. I don't know if I was good…

— Ato Essandoh

When 'Goodfellas' is on TNT, and they've taken out all the curse words and put Tide commercials in the middle of it,…

— Ato Essandoh

Never would I have thought that I would meet Mick Jagger, much less be working on the same project.

— Ato Essandoh

I never thought I'd play an orthodox Jewish man.

— Ato Essandoh

I was in chemical engineering at Cornell University. My girlfriend at the time dared me to do a play. I knew there…

— Ato Essandoh

Every culture feels like their parents are the most stringent as far as, "We came to this country to work hard, we…

— Ato Essandoh

I see it in a lot of period pieces where everybody is standing and talking, in a stilted, archaic way, instead of…

— Ato Essandoh

I'd never thought about acting as a job. I was an engineer; I was in science and technology. I loved movies and…

— Ato Essandoh

You don't want to be a gimmick. You don't want to be a set piece, where people go, 'Hey, that's weird.'

— Ato Essandoh

I have the softest beard in the world. As far as growing it, it doesn't itch, and it's so non-intrusive. But I…

— Ato Essandoh

There's some dues that you just have to pay in life.

— Ato Essandoh

I know I'm supposed to say this, but I really, genuinely think Matt Damon is a great dude.

— Ato Essandoh

I never heard about tefillin. I was unfamiliar with the deep history and ritual of being an Orthodox Jew. Before you get…

— Ato Essandoh

Everything musically, for me, there's two kinds of music. There's Prince and Jimi Hendrix and then Miles Davis and everything filters through…

— Ato Essandoh

My parents are from Ghana. Until I was 17, I thought you had to go to college. I had no idea. I…

— Ato Essandoh

Quentin Tarantino and Sam Jackson are the reasons I'm an actor.

— Ato Essandoh