Quotes

[roles as a black actor] What I want to do is play roles as a black man, instead of playing black man's roles. You know? The guy in 'The Split,' for example, could be any color. And I don't make a big thing out of my race. If you try to preach, people give you a little sympathy and then they want to get out of the way. So you don't preach, you tell the story. I have a theory, an audience doesn't need to get wrapped up in blackness every time they see a Negro actor. And a movie doesn't have to be about race just because there's a Negro in it. If there's a bigot in the audience, he has to keep reminding himself, that's a black man, that's a Negro, because the story line has left him 'way behind, man. Way behind. "Just tell the story, and before you know it, that cat will be identifying with you, and he won't even know how it happened.