Omar shows no fear of the deep

I play a cop fresh out of Police Academy who goes undercover to trap a drugs lord played by LL Cool J. It's based on true stories of undercover cops who wage war on drugs. It's rather like a documentary - you see the story as it's happening. Screenwriter Paul Aaron brought out how my character felt and then left it up to me to figure out where he needed to go.

I enjoyed working with LL Cool J. He was open and passionate, and he brought a humility and vulnerability to his role that you don't see in many villains. Breakfast Of Champions, which I'm also in, is based on a fairly dark novel - but I enjoyed working with director Alan Rudolph and the other co-stars. It was like doing theatre on film, which I found very exciting. In Love And Basketball, I play an NBA basketball player called Quincy. Gina Prince-Blythewood, the director, did a good job for her first time out.

Careerwise, I came in when Wesley (Snipes) and Denzel (Washington) were the hot young actors of the time. There is more opportunity for black actors now - I mean when was there ever a time when a black actor was making $20 million from a film, like Will Smith is? We have to create work for ourselves though and that's where I'd like to think I'm coming from.