-
I would love to play the villain, but again, it sort of what happens in this industry.
-
I think many villains have the burden of not being very human.
-
The argument for '12 Years a Slave' was that - yes, it's a beautiful film. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted. It's a real story, and these stories should be told. The problem is, if they're the only stories being told, then it makes Americans of African descent - it puts them into that victim category. And that was my problem with the movie.
-
If there's no craft there, then once the looks go, there goes your career.
-
In the 1980s, there was no category to stick me in. 'He sounds too smart' is what I was hearing. I realized that I had to become a member of the school of what I call 'ugly acting.' Which meant I wanted to do what Dustin Hoffman did very successfully: to play character roles, but lead character roles.
-
The most frightening thing about playing Dick Gregory is I've never done stand-up before, and I had to learn how to be a stand-up comedian, which was a bit of a challenge.
-
I always feel like I'm running an hour and a half late.
-
I don't watch a lot of television, which sounds strange for someone who works in TV.
-
I think, very often, we're addicted to procedurals, those good guy/bad guy shows, and the 'problem' with procedurals is they all follow the same formula: The bad guy does his thing, the good guy goes after him, and in most cases, the good guy figures out who did it and catches him.
-
I think every villain basically thinks that he or she is doing something to make his world, or the world in general, a better place.
-
I don't know of any actor in any television show that I have ever seen who's given monologue after monologue in a television series.
-
The more you know about the world, the more resources you have in terms of things that can inform your character or the circumstances that surround your character.
-
I make it a habit of never trying to judge what an audience might think, only because all points of view are too close, because we're doing it every day, I think that the actor's point of view is sometimes too close to what the material actually is.
-
I think the thing is with a movie that has this much science fiction in it; you need characters who are more science fact, if you know what I mean, than they are human.
-
'12 Years A Slave' is a film that is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and told in a compelling manner. However, there are some questions, in my opinion, as to its importance. Paramount among those questions is, What does this scenario illustrate that we didn't know or haven't seen before? And why does such a film garner such popularity?
-
To work for Shonda Rhimes is heaven. It's been amazing.
-
My tendency is to be quiet and to stay focused and in character. Not the entire time, but certainly to stay focused while I'm on set.
-
Everyone does what they believe they need to do in order to survive in this business, 'survive' being the operative word.
-
Race prejudice has nothing to do with color. It has to do with being the stranger.
-
Acting-wise, it's always exciting to come back for a third season of any TV show that you're working on.