Every African-American I know has two faces. There's the face that we have for ourselves and the face we put on for white America for the places we have to get to.
My dream is to make a Superman hero that's gay.
I felt hopeful for the future because Obama is here. But nothing has changed. It's time for young kids to get serious again and really think about what their four fathers were like. As African-Americans, we are resilient, we are some bad mf-ers, and we are survivors. So get those i-pods out of their ears and become heroes again like the Freedom Riders.
I embrace the criticism, because ultimately (it means) the masses have seen it [my movie]. I embrace it for my father's story, for my mother's story, for my auntie, for my grandmother, who all got their teeth knocked out so I could be [where I am].
I don't think anyone likes anything of mine. At the end of the day, I love it, but just because I love it... I happen to love broccoli, not a lot of people like broccoli. I always question if somebody else is going to love my films.
I want to go to places that are unexpected of me, because people really think they have me pegged. I want to do something different, like maybe do a space movie or a musical.
As a film director and as film actors, you get used to a certain rhythm that's slow. But with TV, it's hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. It's a different pace. So, it's about adjusting to the pace. It's not meant for everybody.
I don't want to sell my soul to Hollywood - to just make run-of-the-mill stuff.
I'm not tough when it comes to people criticizing the people that I protect, and those are the actors. It makes them scared to do it again for another director.
Trust is hard to get from actors, and for me to give to actors.
I can't do movies where you start thinking "Where's the commercial appeal? How are we going to market this?" It's not that kind of party.
I've dodged all sorts of bullets in Hollywood to get my movies made. I'm tough.
I don't work with fear, and I don't work with actors that are fearful.
I think that when you have audacity, you will get polarization.
I was always intrigued with European cinema, and hated most American cinema. I didn't like the one, two, three - boom! style, with a neat and tidy ending. That was never my scene.
I grew up hardcore. I learned to be more responsible - and fiscally responsible - you know, I just wanna be a kid again! Do a musical, have tons of time or something.
Being the first person to go to college that really related to me from the movie [The Butler] because being black and going to college everyone puts so much hope into you.
My philosophy has always been, you don't put your name in front of a movie.
I like all my work equally. I look at the projects as children. I look at the experience more than the end result.
I think people in the future will come up to me and say, "Everything that you are and everything that you have is because of that butler [film]." Of course, that's Oprah's line from the movie, but I think it will resonate with my legacy with the movie.
