Wesley Snipes has some words of advice for darker-skinned actors who are trying to make it in the cut-throat, overwhelmingly white world of Hollywood.
The actor, who appears in NBC's new series "The Player," pointed to "grand master" Sidney Poitier and actor Flip Wilson as having paved the way for black actors, but he emphasized the importance of perfecting one's craft, "regardless of what your complexion is."
As for those who have a darker hue, Snipes considered it an asset -- one that should receive some TLC.
"Use it if you can, and acknowledge that it might be a unique quality in a sea of talent that's out there. So you expand on it," he told HuffPost Live's Zerlina Maxwell. "Keep it polished. You know, you buff up. You scrub. You honey wax and all that kind of stuff. And not worry about it."
Snipes also remembered working on "New Jack City," which depicts the drug dealing underworld of New York City during the '80s. The actor explained that he was originally concerned about the way the movie would depict the lives of drug lords like his character Nino Brown.
"Part of the reservation of playing that character in the first place [was] that it would resonate with certain elements in the community and then be glamorized. I didn't want to glamorize it," he said.
Snipes added he had "no idea" the film would end up so iconic years later.
"What it became, I don't think anybody could have predicted," he said.
Watch the full interview with "The Player" star Wesley Snipes here.
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