Michael Jai White Quotes

United States, Actor
November 10, 1967

Michael Jai White is an American actor and martial artist. He is the first black person to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, having starred as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn. White appeared as Marcus Williams in the Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married Too?, and starred as the character on the TBS/OWN comedy-drama television series Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse. White portrayed Jax Briggs in Mortal Kombat: Legacy. He portrayed boxer Mike Tyson in the 1995 HBO television movie Tyson. He also played the title role in the blaxploitation film Black Dynamite, as well as the Warner Bros. Animation series of the same name.

Also known as Martial Artist

In reality, there are very few villains who view themselves as villains. They just have a certain agenda at a certain time.

Michael Jai White
I feel like I'll be defined more so by ... when I get a chance to play roles where I'm the father/husband. I'd like to continue with the action stuff, but when I get to play the father/husband role, I think that will be the time where I'm playing who I really am. I look forward to playing those kind of heroic characters, the types that are usually associated with Denzel Washington.

Michael Jai White
- Father
- Action
- Chance

There's all kinds of depictions of black men. You have the Denzel Washingtons and the Will Smiths; that's wonderful, but that doesn't represent everyone. There's a Russell Crowe... well, you know, there's a black Russell Crowe.

Michael Jai White
- Know
- Represent
- Kinds
I feel like I missed my era, because I remember the time when black people uplifted each other and looked for the positives. I feel sorry for the people who live their lives in the negative default setting because they filter out what's good, and that's no way to live.

Michael Jai White
- Remember
- Way
- Negative
To me, the responsibility of an actor is to recreate humanity honestly. I never feel like an actor, I always look at it from a blue collar perspective.

Michael Jai White
When you don't have much money, you get creative. There's so much money that gets wasted on big movie sets. But when you don't have much money, you improvise.

Michael Jai White
- Money
- Creative
- Wasted
I am my own worst critic and I am hell to pay so I just have to do everything to my utmost ability.

Michael Jai White
- Ability
- Everything
- Pay
I don't cook. I think they named the 'Mike'-rowave after me.

Michael Jai White
- Cook
- After
- Named

Since I do seven different styles of martial arts, I don't foresee myself fighting the same in any two movies. I think every fighting style should fit the character that's doing the fighting.

Michael Jai White
The first movie I ever saw was a blaxploitation movie. It was called 'Monkey Hustle.' Like I said, just listen to the name. That's a blaxploitation movie. It had these incredible, bigger-than-life images of people who looked like I did. Or who looked like I wanted to look like.

Michael Jai White
- Movie
- Wanted
- Listen