John Cho Quotes

I've played roles that aren't expected of an Asian.

Of course we've been fighting against stereotypes from Day One at East West. That's the reason we formed: to combat that, and to show we are capable of more than just fulfilling the stereotypes - waiter, laundryman, gardener, martial artist, villain.

I want to show another side of Middle Easterners. My hope is that I would be able to play a variety of parts, and not always be the guy with the accent.

I think the Hindi film heroine is stereotypical. It is nice to have an opportunity to have that freedom to not to do that anymore.

I've been fortunate that a lot of roles I've done have been professionals and not your TV stereotype of Latinos.

People have all these preconceptions about me. Whereas if you look at the roles, Henry Hill was the nicest guy in 'Goodfellas!' I was a nice guy too in the comedy 'Heartbreakers.' And I was a really sweet father to Johnny Depp in 'Blow!'

Watching 'Girls,' it was really angering for me at first, because I really had spent decades hiding unlikable, unattractive Jewish girls in likable, attractive, non-Jewish actors and characters.

I don't mind doing action or kung fu, but I'm also really happy to do something dramatic. I'd like to show that a Chinese girl doesn't have to do crazy martial arts to get the part.

'Certainly Men of a Certain Age' was different for me and allowed people to see me in a different light. Maybe that opened up minds a little bit.

Shows in the '70s and '80s were a lot more provocative. Shows that are coming out now - like 'Black-Ish,' 'The Carmichael Show' - are showcasing people of color in a new way. It's not stereotypical.

I want to put something on the screen that audiences have never seen black actors do before, roles that will widen views of who African-Americans are.

Your look changes depending on your confidence, and then your beauty changes. When I first came to New York, all the people were saying, 'You look so Asian because you have a different eye shape.' They didn't really understand because they didn't really see that many Asian models.

There was the 'Cosby Show' in America in the 1980s, which was a doctor in a beautiful Brownstone middle-class house. We just haven't created a role like that in the U.K.; it's always gangs and crime. We need to be brave.

I've stayed away from doing 'urban film' because I just don't relate to the characters. I'm not going to take a role because I happen to have the same skin color.

I would love more stories with strong characters of color who don't always fit the mold that Hollywood has created in the past.

There is no 'generic' Latina.

I've always made a point to play roles that aren't specified by their ethnicity.

Since I am a turbaned Sardar, I can only play Sardar roles. Either that or producers should be willing to alter the script to accommodate my physical appearance. But I won't call this a restriction.

I would get a lot of roles for the ethnic friend and then I would go in for that and not be ethnic enough. They wanted an Indian accent. They wanted something more very visually, clearly specific.

I had a niche. And my niche was that I was brown. So it's like, 'Great, I get to go up for all these 'brown parts.'' I call them 'brown parts' because that's what they are. That's not to be resentful, because I loved playing those parts - I got to meet so many cool actors.

Normally, people think of Asian women as timid, but I think I'm very strong.

I'd like to see more Asian-American roles where the ethnicity of the character can be swapped to another. We can, of course, play the stereotypical ninja, the martial arts master, the accountant, the doctor, but we can be more than that!

I want to change the perception about Latinos worldwide. I think people don't know yet how cool we are.

I've shied away from playing Asian characters. if you look back, I'm playing characters that have no relevance to my ethnicity.

I think most people think of ballerinas as kind of either as a fairytale, far-away thing that's really not attainable, something they can't grasp, or they think of them as European or Russian and kind of their nose up in the air. So, it's cool for me to, like, sit with them and for them to really see themselves as me.