Wesley Snipes on the Value of Money and Lessons From Behind Bars

We spoke to Wesley Snipes, ’90s motion icon—co-starring with Eddie Murphy within the sequel Coming 2 America—about getting older with grace, the worth of cash, and what he realized from two years behind bars.

Men’s Journal: Who had been your heroes rising up?

Wesley Snipes: The cats that influenced me had been guys like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, James Brown, Michael Jackson—all of those performers who might dance. Gene Kelly was the person, him and Douglas Fairbanks. I bear in mind rising up within the Bronx, watching them at any time when there was an opportunity. I’d leap round the home, making an attempt to be a swashbuckler.

How ought to a person deal with getting older?

You have to appreciate that issues are going to decelerate; that even when your thoughts is quick, the physique, the machine, will rust. And because the machine begins to rust, the flexibility for it to generate kinetic energy begins to decrease. So the trick is to be getting older gracefully and healthfully, and maintain the rust out of the physique. If you’ll be able to maintain the rust out of the physique, then getting outdated will not be an issue in any respect.

What human high quality do you most admire?

The means to outlive.

And what trait do you most deplore?

Squandering your expertise. It’s irresponsible.

Who has been the most important affect in your life?

Women have been a really sturdy affect in my life. Most of my higher accomplishments have come on the recommendation and care and endurance of females—from my grandmother, to my mother, to my academics in highschool, who actually helped propel me towards the humanities and, you recognize, expanded my consciousness.

What position ought to vainness play in a person’s life?

How you look and the way you fashion your self and the way you scent is a mirrored image, as we are saying on the streets, of the standard of your temple. If your temple is polished and gleaming, individuals are gonna come, folks gonna worship. But in case your temple is raggedy…no, no, no, no, no.

What residing particular person do you most admire?

Not an individual—a character. I love individuals who have gone by the hearth and are available out on the opposite aspect, in some instances rising again just like the phoenix and hovering from that time ahead. Those folks, I dig 1,000 %.

You spent a few years in jail for tax issues. What did you be taught most from that?

The worth of time. I used to be gone for 2 years and a few months, and essentially the most wonderful factor was to return again to what they name the world—attention-grabbing time period—and discover that there have been individuals who had been doing the very same factor, in the very same state of affairs. It’s nearly like time stood nonetheless for 2 years. Now who was in jail? Who continues to be in jail?

What’s one factor that each man ought to perceive about cash?

Money is the icing on the cake, the trophy for arduous work executed. But the cash will not be actually what it’s all about. It’s the data of the way to create the worth that creates the cash.

What journey most modified your life?

Going to SUNY Purchase for artwork college. Completely international territory. I used to be considered one of possibly 4 Black guys in the entire division. That was essentially the most life-altering expertise for me.

How so?

They hit me with one thing. They stated, “You don’t know who you are. You don’t know your style. You haven’t learned enough.” Now, that was offensive, particularly coming from white of us who had by no means skilled the world that I lived in. But they had been proper.
— Wesley Snipes interview by Larry Kanter

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