Today is the country-wide opening of the new young-adult action adventure, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Director Chris Columbus and various cast members stopped off in NYC for the premiere recently and I had the good fortune to sit down for a few minutes with up-and-coming comedic star Brandon T. Jackson. In the movie, Brandon plays a courageous satyr (half human, half goat) who accompanies and protects the lead character, Percy. In "real life" Brandon is a preacher's kid from Detroit, Michigan and one of seven siblings. Brandon has been living and working in LA for some time now, initially doing stand-up comedy and then moving into film. One of his most notable previous roles was in Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black.

RM: You are a preacher's kid. I am, too. Talk a little about what that's like. How does that shape you as an entertainer? And what is your view of pop culture?

BJ: You tell me [laughs]. It's great; my parents have been very supportive. You know, my dad has always prided himself as being a father first, and then a spiritual man. It's always in your roots, it sticks with you. You gotta make sure that things you do please God, but at the same time you gotta know how to please people too. Like Paul said, "Be all things to all people," and that's really tough to do. Its not easy.

There was a time when my dad was really just strict. I mean, like, "Don't listen to nothing, throw out the world, blah, blah, blah." I think we as Christians, we can't blind ourselves from what is going on. We can't mask ourselves from what is going on in life, despite what we believe. This is a job, what I do, like anything else. With pop culture, if you choose to follow what people say...

I have the little angel and devil on my shoulder everyday. Because its like you are instilled with these roots and you grew up thinking everything was bad, everything in pop culture. But you gotta know that everything is for a reason. There is a rhythm and season for everything. It's like if you are a tree, you gotta make sure you are rooted and grounded, but you also gotta make sure you are able to grow. I think we as Christians sometimes have a problem with letting our tree grow. We kind of nip each other, and we can get stagnant and block each other from living and from enjoying what really needs to happen in order to reach the world.

Everyone has to be a leader within themselves, find God inside them, so they can understand how to move in every situation. Just like the movie [Percy Jackson], those voices will lead you. Or The Voice will lead you.

And that's the spiritual aspect you can take from this film, the fact that you look at these young sons of gods who want connection with their father. And like them, He speaks to us in our dreams, in our thoughts, in our minds, and that is what leads you through everything.

RM: Tell me about a few people that are role models for you.

BJ: My dad and Will Smith are probably the biggest role models for me, ever. And Barack Obam,a of course.

RM: Talk to me about future aspirations. What are you hoping to do next?

BJ: I wanna do some action and adventure, some more of this [Percy Jackson] type of movie, something bigger than me and magical. I always like to do stories where the underdog overcomes things.

RM: Are your days of stand-up comedy behind you?

BJ: I don't know yet. I don't know about the Underground, but I am coming out with a stand-up album. We'll see.

RM: What number are you in your family's line-up of kids?

BJ: Fifth, the number of grace and favor.

RM: If you had one person in the Bible that you identify with, who would it be?

BJ: Joseph. I wear my coat of many colors very shiny. And I am definitely in Egypt.