If you put forth a really diverse cast and you fight for it and it doesn't do well - and it may fail for other reasons - you're gone because you stuck your neck out for that decision.

I became a filmmaker because I wanted to deal with issues that intrigued me, that I thought were pertinent, that would start dialogue.

If you cast an all-white movie and it doesn't do well, no one will say it's because you had an all-white cast.

I feel like every time you get to make a sequel, it's a privilege. It means that people have embraced it and want the journey to continue.

We ultimately get to know ourselves a little bit better by pushing forward.

It is very important to support what you believe in.

There's an anxiety of wanting to please the studios. You want to prove to them that you can do it and sometimes you might jump at a project that you're not totally passionate about.

I think ultimately that sense of hope is something that even as a little kid I was able to kind of grab onto.

In Japanese swordsmanship, it is not uncommon to speak of a unity of mind, body, and sword.

Nonetheless, we experience a sense of freedom when we feel that we have the ability to make choices and satisfy our primal instincts.

very funny my sarcastic friend

Genius is the art of taking pains

The worst thing is to be a designer and create work that isn't honest. You have to be honest. Otherwise, you'll always be a reaction to what other people do and you'll always be one step behind.

I never imagined myself as an actor who would be in films. I always only thought of myself being in a play or a musical.

I've always paid a lot of attention to the way that different kinds of media affect how we see the world, probably because I've been an actor since I was a little kid.

A good man enlarges the term of his own existence.

You can't hide... from The Deadman.

I teach at Eastern University, which is highly committed to doing work among the poor and the oppressed peoples of the world. We have a special commitment to the city.