Sometimes you're talking to a tennis ball on a stick, and you have to imagine what is supposed to be there and trust that the editors and the animators are going to make it all convincing to the audience. You have to pull a lot from within.
Ray Fisher
It wasn't until I booked the role of Cyborg that I was sent literally everything Cyborg-related from DC comics.
I remember watching Wesley Snipes as Blade. I watched Michael Jai White as Spawn. I even watch Shaquille O'Neal as Steel. I felt like seeing a physical representation, a non-cartoon representation, affected me in a much different way.
The world is yearning for more inclusion, because we're not living in 1930 where we've got X amount of superheroes and X amount of representation.
I was a huge fan of the Justice League growing up. I watched all of the cartoons, all of the animated series, all of the movies, superhero related, since my personal beginning.
I've had lots of fans who come out and say, 'Listen, I can relate to Cyborg because I lost a limb,' or 'I have this cochlear implant.' It's one of those things when you actually start seeing it, when you actually start hearing about it, that made Cyborg more relevant to me than I think he ever had been up until that point.
Due to the technology used to create Cyborg, his powers are ever-evolving. They include the ability to interface with anything technological, flight, super strength, hologram projection, and a sophisticated weapons system... the list goes on! He has powers within him that even he isn't yet aware of.
I'd have all these crazy sort of 'who would win battles' with my friends who were big fans of other comic book characters, and I'd always find a way for Batman to win. It was deep for me, man.
Cyborg was the first superhero that I've ever seen whose parent was around but just was not there for him emotionally, mentally. I related to that in a big way because, growing up, it was my mother and grandmother that raised me and my brother and sisters. I'm the second youngest of five; my father was never in the picture.
I didn't know too much about his comic book history. I know that in 'Teen Titans,' he's much more the comedic relief. But after reading the comic book iteration of Cyborg in 'The New Teen Titans' from the 1980s that Marv Wolfman and George Perez had worked on, I saw that there was a lot of texture to the character.
Victor Stone's story is one of acceptance - of self and others. Also, accepting his father for the person he once was, absent from his life until he turned him into Cyborg. And acceptance of oneself in that he is both Cyborg and Victor Stone simultaneously.
Looking at 'Batman v Superman' - which I can watch objectively, since I'm in it for all of two seconds - I see different layers. It is not preachy, and represents the gray we live in as human beings.
I felt like a typical kid growing up, and Lawnside is a nice town with a huge historical significance.
Once the stories end up getting farfetched and ridiculous, I think that's where superhero fatigue will really catch on.
I was huge fan of most of the animated series growing up in the golden era of '90s superhero animation. I didn't care who was producing - it was much more about the specific heroes that I connected with.
Cyborg represents not just people who are differently abled: he is also a representation of the black community and people of colour within the Justice League. Being able to don both those mantles with the integrity which that character would need to be portrayed and was adhered to was something that was very important.
I've been in constant awe of the people I've been blessed to work with and, obviously, who have had great success in the film industry.
Growing up, I didn't have many comics, but I grew to love these characters through their film and television universes. I've been geeking out about these superheroes ever since I could tie a towel around my neck like a cape and jump off my grandmother's porch.
I think there is definitely a message behind Cyborg that is needed for people to hear and what he represents and the resilience of the human spirit. I hope it means as much to people watching it as it meant to me to do it.
It's nice to go back and look at the original version of Cyborg in the 1980s, when he was created, and seeing how politically and socially charged they were: it was no holds barred. If DC ever made a return to that social awareness and that sort of context, I'd be super-thrilled to see that.
I definitely caught acting bug.
I auditioned specifically for Cyborg, but at the time, they were using a code name for the character... I think it was Oscar.
If I had my druthers, I think a 'Cyborg' standalone would be a slightly more intimate story. One of the things that I always think is interesting with these sort of universes is, whenever there's a world-threatening crisis, it always makes you wonder, 'Where are the other members of the group? Why didn't they show up?'
I actually grew up watching a lot of these cartoons - a lot of the animated series. 'Batman: The Animated Series,' 'Justice League,' all the stuff that would come onto Cartoon Network.
Theater definitely prepared me for Cyborg in the best way possible. All of the green screen definitely takes me to my minimalist theater days.
Cyborg doesn't need to eat or sleep, and whenever he encounters an issue that he's not initially equipped to handle, his technology can transmogrify and immediately adapt to that situation.
When I was cast in 'Batman v Superman,' I was sent a huge stack of comics. They provided a ton of information about Cyborg and how he has evolved as a character over the years.
My first encounter with Cyborg was through the 'Teen Titans' cartoon.
Imagining things are there that are not really there, with the green screen, is very much like theatre, when you're looking at the fourth wall.
I think, as long as you tell real stories, I think people will respond to it no matter whether or not it's in the context of super heroes.
I actually learned about Cyborg through the cartoon shows, and I think that's how most people learn about Cyborg.
I'd love to do something in a more humanitarian context. I think it will come to me.
I'm not trying to rush my life.
I'm proud that I can represent, within Cyborg, a couple of different groups. One being people of color, but also, Cyborg is a superhero that is in many ways disabled. So, being able to give representation from that end as well is something that's really powerful to me.
What drew me to Cyborg was the tragic nature of his origins and how grounded he is in a reality that I recognise. As an actor, it really gave me a lot to chew on.
I was a huge fan of that Cyborg growing up as a kid because that was when the original cartoon show was on, and Khary Payton is a master at what he does.
I was literally in the car every day on my way home from school trying to hurry up and get the homework done so I could just go home and watch the cartoons and not be bothered.
Obviously, the world is yearning for more diversity.
Those early Cyborg comics were very politically charged, and he was very aware of being a black superhero.
I was really able to integrate into a diverse school and learn to get along with all different types of people.
Once you actually book the role, you see that people have faith in your ability to portray the character.
I love the levels, the depth, that the character has. He is the only member of the Justice League who cannot take off his costume. He is Cyborg 24/7.
There are people who have been in this game much longer than myself. And one of the things that I've learned by way of just watching is to stay flexible because you never know what may pop up.
Batman and Blade were probably about neck-and-neck for me. If it was anything involving those two characters, I was there, man.
If you end up growing a character too quickly, you don't have anywhere to go after that point.
I didn't think I'd be getting my own stand-alone film.
