Mike Colter remembers being inspired to pursue a career in acting as a youngster growing up in St. Matthews, S.C., when he saw Denzel Washington in A Soldier's Story, a 1984 movie about the 1944 murder of a black officer at a Southern Army base.

Twenty-two years later, Colter appeared in a revival of the play that inspired the movie at New York's Valiant Theatre and Washington visited the production. Colter seized the moment to tell Washington what an inspiration he had been.

It was like a dream come true, kind of like the rest of Colter's career that has begun to jell after years of education and paying dues in New York and Los Angeles.

The 1999 USC theatre graduate is hoping his breakout role will be his performance in 2004's Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby, in which he portrayed up-and-coming boxer Big Willie Little, coached by Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood). He has also appeared in several TV movies (Hallmark Hall of Fame's Silver Bells, Brooklyn Lobster), and TV series (ER, UPN's The Parkers, and Law and Order: Trial By Jury).

Other credits include a voiceover for an upcoming documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns and work on a screenplay about Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion boxer.

In the future, “I just want to do work that I'm proud of,” said Colter, who also earned an MFA in acting from Rutgers. “The great thing about this is that I'm just beginning, so, hopefully, I'll have 30 more years of doing this.”

While he was at USC, Colter appeared in numerous plays, including A Taste of Honey, Frankenstein, and A Mid-Summer's Night Dream. The faculty, he said, was always supportive, encouraging, honest, and forthright.

“I remember telling people there that I was going to be in Hollywood or that I'd be doing this or that, and I don't remember very many people telling me I couldn't do that, and that actually helped,” said Colter, who lives in New York.

“It seems like everybody wants to be an actor, but you have to have experience and give yourself a chance to see what you can do as an actor. There was always that chance at USC, and I really appreciated it.”