Getting into acting was an accident. I started acting at 10. It wasn't something I was looking to do. I always say acting chose me rather than me choosing it.

Age and experience bring griefs to us all and I've certainly had my share. I feel like I carry the weight of those things and although they don't weigh me down, they're always there.

People have been confusing Samuel L Jackson and me for 25 years even though we don't look anything alike. I'm so grateful to Sam for calling out that TV reporter for doing it – that was pure fun. I don't take offence: 40 years ago people did the same thing with Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino because they didn't look like the screen gods who came before.

Apocalypse Now was my craziest experience ever. I was 14 years old and I'd lied about my age to get the role. I haven't had another film top it.

Real-life stuff is always the best. Working with my wife Gina [Torres] on Hannibal is wonderful. I love working with her and playing opposite her. It's great fun – especially because the material is beautiful and human.

Things have become considerably better for men of colour since I was born. But I'd say that we'll be really getting somewhere when things get better for women of colour.

What's important to you changes over time. There are things I cared about 25 years ago that don't have the same kind of importance to me now. Priorities change and, perhaps more importantly, I've changed.

Projects don't need to be special for me to sign up, but I do need them to have something that speaks to me in some way. When I was a younger actor, I always thought if I did serious television it would be in my 50s. I was 47 when I landed CSI and although it wasn't artistically challenging, I learned a lot and now I'm really grateful for that experience.

Being a second-time, older father has had an impact on me. This time round I consciously made work choices based on the fact I would be able to sleep in my own bed and spend time in my own house at a time when I had a young child. It's something I didn't do the first time round.

Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist means a lot to me. I've been trying to develop it as a movie for 12 years. Why does it mean so much? Because it's a tale of discovering who you are and what you're doing – and that's the story of us all.

I've always got the theatre bug. If I haven't done it for a while I start thinking I need to get back on stage. Working on a TV show is not the same, but you are working every day and it's intense, so I suppose it keeps the instrument sharp.

Most of us repeat our mistakes throughout life. The key is becoming wise enough to change and learn from those mistakes. I'm still trying.

Hannibal returns to Sky Living on 6 May at 10pm