Mekhi Phifer Quotes

The makers of entertainment must try, in our field, to be honest and grown-up.

What does it serve any studio to not reflect the lives of people who are giving you money, who are crying out to you, 'Hey, please tell our stories.'

As far as the lack of hits goes, I think perhaps it's because I've played a lot of different roles and have not created a persona that the public can latch on to. I have played everything from psychopathic killers to romantic leading men, and in picking such diverse roles I have avoided typecasting.

Once I started doing stand-up, everything fell into place. That was when I started acting more; I felt like I'd found my place in the business.

I want to make all kinds of movies. I do want to make big movies that are a lot of fun to go to, but I also want to make movies that are going to stimulate some thought and maybe raise some awareness.

Australians just don't see that many Australian films, but it's also our responsibility as filmmakers and the responsibility of the funding bodies to remember that audiences want to be entertained, and people are entertained in lots of different ways.

In America, I am brown; I'm 'of colour', so I would be offered Latin roles, and I've fought against that. I don't want to be put in a category, to be just offered the same sort of thing. For me, it's all about different roles, telling the stories of the great writers.

Every major summer blockbuster that is released is essentially a product line being launched across multiple verticals. However, the centerpiece of the product launch is a big, beautiful story whose job is to entertain.

'The Voice' is not just a singing competition. It really comes down to how you come off as a person and how you connect with America with your story, and being relatable to people.

You either entertain an audience or you don't.

Specificity is what makes good storytelling, and good storytelling is what makes money, and making money is then what encourages new producers to invest in different stories about Asians.

I want to keep doing roles that are challenging and different.

I've been lucky enough to play roles that are not just the preppy cheerleader or sullen emo girl. I've been able to play roles that are really vast and varied and very three-dimensional. Fingers crossed that it remains the same.

The [motion picture] screen will most securely establish itself as an accepted and useful factor in national life in proportion as it shall recognize its duty …

I look at the feature films that come out, and by and large, 85 percent of them are things I wouldn't in a million years sit down and watch. The more interesting storytelling is happening on television by a long shot.

The power of story and the power of a well-crafted film or television show is really all you need to speak to people. I think Hollywood is sort of catching up to that.

Acting is a privilege, and I'm exceedingly blessed to be able to do what I do. At the end of the day, it's all entertainment.

This is what the difference is between Hong Kong and Chinese cinema - Chinese cinema was made for their own communities. It was for propaganda. But Hong Kong made films to entertain, and they know how to communicate with international audiences.

I like the full spectrum of roles.

As a producer, I want to back projects, talents, and scripts that speak to me not just as someone from the industry, but as an audience.

There's a power in what we hold as artists, and part of that comes with responsibility... to share the human experience and really allow that to be seen.

Television has embraced so much in terms of storytelling and in terms of a wide array of characters conveying stories from different points of view.

I started out mainstream and then literally made a conscious decision, like, 'I don't have that core black audience on my side.' And then I literally started looking for projects to get involved in.

Great writing makes great television.

It's time for storytellers to tell the stories that have not had the privilege of being shown to the world, and the audience will be there.