Sophie Okonedo Quotes

I was never the 'babe,' so I knew I'd never get those big roles. I'd always be the best friend or the quirky sidekick.

There are so many huge roles in the theatre: if you've got the option to play Hedda Gabler on stage, why wouldn't you choose that over a three-line part in a Hollywood film as somebody's maid or somebody's wife or somebody's best friend?

I'd just like to see a role for women where someone who isn't traditionally attractive is not portraying the best friend. You know, the character that only speaks in questions. 'Gee, are you gonna go out with him? Do you think I look fat?'

When you're black in Hollywood, you know, your first role is going to be on a crime drama. That's - everybody knows that.

I know the only reason that I haven't gotten many good parts is because I am Latin - and they tell it to my face a lot of times.

I had so many offers after 'True Blood' for things that were someone in the same vein, but nowhere near Alan Ball's vision. Or something that was over-the-top and fantastical. And I've always wanted to play the regular, working-class mom, and I've never really had the chance to do that.

'Chasing Amy' was an amazing role, but then after that, I went and did 'Big Daddy' and you're the girlfriend or you're the best friend. I wasn't getting the Nicole Kidman roles.

For years after 'The Last Waltz,' I got all kinds of silly movie offers - or, maybe, not silly, but parts that are not my calling... lots of offers to play some wonderful boyfriend.

Television has been really good to me in terms of the roles I've been able to get on TV as opposed to the roles I've gotten in film and in theater.

Films with predominantly white casts can come in any form, tell any story, big or small. For black films, you have the light, fluffy rom-coms or 'Madea' movies, and then you have the black-torture awards movie.

After 'Champion,' I got like 20,000 psychopath roles! And they wanted me to strip and show my body in every film. But I have tried to balance my roles.

I want to break the stereotype that when an actress becomes a mother, she can only do certain type of roles.

Being a plus-size actress, it is slim pickings, so anytime any role comes up for a plus-size actress, my agents are all over it, and they were like, 'You have to book this job. It's 'American Horror Story.' It's a big deal.' No pressure, right?

I was never an ingenue, thank God; always character.

With 'Gold,' it was a very simple girl, and in 'Kabir Singh,' it's more of a glam role. That's my aim: I want to experiment as much as I can. These two are very small areas of experimentation.

There were definitely auditions and even bookings and jobs where I played your typical Asian model minority: an IT tech guy or something of that nature. It's tough sometimes, especially when you're starting out, because they make these roles sound as if they won't be a typical nerd.

With 'Lady Macbeth,' I had two other things offered to me, and they would have also been very fun, but you just have to figure that out. And then you do it.

As black women, we're miles behind our white counterparts in being offered the space to create and craft female characters in major blockbuster films.

I told my team, 'I don't want to go out for Asian roles anymore.'

I have been fortunate enough to be offered characters and projects that challenge me and that are different from the characters that I have played.

I was offered 10 Sultan Qureshi-type roles after 'Gangs of Wasseypur.' But I did not want to repeat that, as I have little fear of being rejected by the people.

I have friends who say, 'I don't want to do period now because I have done a period piece and I need to wait for two years' - I don't have that.

If I don't do this film. I'll be acting in corsets for the next 20 years.

I've witnessed racism all my life. And of course there's racism and discrimination in Hollywood. You go for a part and they say, 'Oh, we really liked her, she's amazing, but we wanted to go with something more traditional'. As if I'm not a traditional American!

Well, I was always cast as an artistic homicidal maniac. But at least I was artistic!