When Terrence turned on the nomination announcement show at 5 a.m. in California, he was just in time to see that he was not nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Crash. Terrence was disappointed at this because that category, he says, was "supposed to be my best chance" for a nomination.

That disappointment quickly disappeared moments later when he was nominated for Best Actor for his role in Hustle & Flow. "I turned into a schoolgirl," he says. "I started crying. I didn't expect to be that happy. I thought if it happened I would be cool, but you just don't think that everything will amount to something."

Terrence says he doesn't plan to write a speech in advance in case he wins. "You've got a minute and a half up there at the most," he says. "If God has led me to that moment, I would like for the God in me to speak. And whatever happens, happens."