Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow."

NEW YORK -- It's hard to be humble when so many people are praising you.

So Terrence Howard's humility is as impressive as it is profound.

He stars in Hustle & Flow, in which he plays Djay, a pimp who finds salvation in rap music.

It's a break-out performance from an actor who's shone in such films as Mr. Holland's Opus, The Best Man and Hart's War, getting good reviews but little financial reward.

All this is about to change.

Earlier this year, Howard played the conflicted director in Crash, getting some of the best reviews of his career. Even those notices are being dwarfed by his turn in Hustle & Flow.

"I feel great. Everyone is smiling and talking to me as if I was their best friend," says Howard, who turned down the role when producer John Singleton brought him the script.

"I didn't want to go to the dark places that are so much a part of Djay's life. I know them intimately but I had put them all behind me," says Howard who was raised in Cleveland.

"When I was 16, my father took us into a house by ourselves because my step-mom was trying to shoot us. It was winter and there was no electricity. The beds were water beds, so they were frozen."

One of his father's best friends was a pimp named Tweety Bird.

"He was such a kind man. He'd give me money to buy food ... and when it got too cold he'd let us sleep on the floor at his house.

"My performance in Hustle & Flow is a tribute ... to Tweety Bird. He died 10 years ago."

Howard is grateful Singleton didn't give up.

"It was the hopeful nature of the script that gave me the courage to do the film. I needed hope in my life at that time. My wife Laurie and I had just divorced. I knew if I was going to play DJay, I'd have to put my conscience to bed for a year.

Howard moved away from his wife and three children and immersed himself in the dark side of life.

"I watched pornography for three and four hours each day. I tried to understand the world DJay lived and operated in."

Hustle & Flow not only impacted Howard's career, but his life.

"When I finally shed DJay, I desperately wanted my old life back. I went to my family. I asked for their forgiveness and their love.

"My wife and I got remarried in February."

Howard says he has a much better relationship with his family, but longs to "one day have a clean conscience with God. I still have amends to make with Him."

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