Brian Tyree Henry Quotes
-
I love the element of surprise, throwing people off of what they think they know about what I can do and who I am. I just want to keep doing that.
-
I usually get approached by older white ladies of a certain class, with their pearls and, you know, their Talbots on and everything, and they're like, 'We just have to say, we know we're not your demographic, but we love Paper Boi; we really love this show, and we love what you're doing.' It's totally cool.
-
The projects that I've been fortunate enough to do are all projects where I followed my heart. I didn't follow the money or the names. It's all about reflecting my life and my art.
-
Really trying to find the people who really ride for you and are down for you, that's hard.
-
My father was retired military, and my mother was an educator. She was incredibly creative. I used to love going to her school during the summer and helping her decorate her classroom. I would draw Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck. She was a sixth grade teacher. She and my father are the ones that got me into my love of music.
-
I am the product of those who believed in me.
-
Acting really started for me because I was in a house full of adults. They never shielded their lives from me. They were adults going through this world doing what they had to do. I used to like to watch them and imitate them. They all have their own distinct personalities; even though they're family, we couldn't be more different people.
-
I learned everything I know about music from my parents and my sisters.
-
I was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which is where J. Cole is from. I went up to Washington, D.C., where my mother moved, to stay with her, and then moved back to North Carolina to finish junior high and high school.
-
Yale was one of the best moments in my life - also one of the hardest. I learned about community.
-
I hope that there's a little black boy somewhere in Montana that never thought that he would see a reflection of himself, and he turns on the television, like, 'Oh my God, thank you.'
-
Every single person you can think of called me Paper Boi.
-
I stay in contact with my castmates from 'Atlanta' almost every day.
-
I think that Atlanta has this huge well of black culture and openness to share all the things that we have made there.
-
I'm a big guy: I look like a linebacker, you know? But no one cares, really, that I'm educated. I have a copy of 'Fire Next Time' by James Baldwin in my bag. I have an Ibsen play in there, too. I have to walk through this world with that duality all the time, that I live in two different worlds.
-
Music has always been a part of my life, and it helps me a lot because it speaks for me when I can't speak for myself.
-
My mom loved road trips, and sometimes we'd drive down to North Carolina. Though my parents were separated, she wanted me to stay connected with my dad.
-
If you are conscious and really want change in this world, and you don't vote, then what was all the fighting for? All the things our parents and our parents' parents fought for?
-
At Morehouse, I found myself and my voice, and I didn't want to lose that at Yale.
-
Hug your mom. Hug your mom and thank your mom.
-
It's not without its flaws - it's still the South and the Bible Belt - but Atlanta is one of those cities that's really good at uniting people.
-
You play the honesty of the characters and show a side of them that people can relate to and want to get to know.
-
Aja Naomi is one of my good friends.
-
Things are constantly evolving, and anything could happen. And that's exciting to me.