Terrence Howard is ready to leave his acting career behind.

During an interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” Howard says that he is prepared to fully take a step back from the craft. “This is the end for me,” he revealed during the red carpet for “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” in Los Angeles. “I retired two years ago, for the most part. I was done. I asked Sidney Poitier 10 years ago does he want to do any more work, and he said, ‘Why would I spend my last 10 years doing an impersonation of myself?’ And that’s what I’ve gotten to.”

Howard made his acting debut in The Jacksons: An American Dream when he portrayed Jackie Jackson. Since then, he’s starred in films like Hustle & Flow, Four Brothers, the Fox television series “Empire,” and more.

Furthermore, the veteran entertainer says that his work over the years speaks to his love for the profession. “I’ve gotten to the point where now I’ve given the very best that I have as an actor,” said Howard. “Now I’m enjoying watching other new talent come around, and I don’t want to do an impersonation of myself.” At one point, he even credited fellow entertainers in the industry. “Yes, there’s some better actors out there that can do things that I was never able to do,” he continued. “So, I want to applaud them, I want to be excited about what they do.”

In a recent interview with REVOLT, Howard expressed the stories he’d like to see portrayed by Black men in Hollywood moving forward. “I would like to know the ability of men to be men and people to be people,” said The Best Man actor. “The man has been demonized — the strength in character and faults that come with a man are necessary for balance. With the new formula, most men are made to be effeminate and not have their power or sense of strength — they allow white men to be able to be strong, but when it’s Black men, it’s seen as a threat. I don’t want to remove a few chromosomes to fit in someone’s story, so I feel they need to expand their stories to allow men to be men and simultaneously appreciate a woman’s beauty.”