Raashi Khanna Quotes

I wanted to do action, and it was a bit irritating when people called me a chocolate boy. I can do other films, too.

There are expectations in how you play your character as a black woman, to be sassy and the same kind of feel, as if there are no quirky black women. I struggle with those things constantly, trying to add dimension to my work, and that's the goal, too.

I'm trying to fight typecasting as hard as I can, while I have time.

Hollywood will put you in a box, so to speak. Some people will have seen you in 'La Bamba' or another dramatic film and think, 'Okay, that's what Lou does.' But they don't really have an idea of the range or diversity that I can bring to a project.

A lot of people get pigeonholed because it makes it easier to understand them - or assume you understand them. I think the way you break away from that is by constantly doing different jobs.

I like to keep breaking the typecast and cliches.

It's a reality that you get boxed and stereotyped, but I am not afraid of that. It's my quest as an actor to explore different territories.

There are a lot of stereotypes to be broken which I think a lot of us are doing. What I do is, as soon as people try to pin me down to one kind of part, I'll play a very different kind of role, so it explodes that stereotype.

In my career, I have played a gangster, an ex cop, a journalist and a film director. Yet, the label of a serial kisser refuses to leave me.

I am so stereotyped into being this Hollywood girl.

I'm 100 percent Irish by birth, grew up Italian, and yet I constantly get cast as playing Jewish.

When people start thinking of you more as a persona, they are less inclined to allow you to move into different areas. Sometimes they're wrong. Sometimes they're just very stereotypical or restricted in their own thinking of what they'll allow you to do.

I've learned that people latch onto labels and stereotypes. There was a period when I was asked in every single interview how I liked being the new Frank Sinatra... I think people will soon realize that I do a lot more than interpret old songs.

Not all of us are chameleons that can do every different thing. I hope I'm going to be typecast. I will play the girl next door for the rest of my life if I have to. I always kind of feel like I have that in my pocket when I go in a room.

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 knowing where you can generally fit is important, but the fun thing about being an actor is sometimes stretching beyond that stereotype and stretching beyond the box that people put you in.

Sometimes I've felt that the industry has typecast me as a certain kind of character. But then I think all it really takes is one role, the right role, to shake that up and change that perception.

Am I going to complain about being typecast as smart? I don't think so.

Certainly, I look for different characters 'cause I always like to keep people guessing, and I also don't like to get typecast.

With 'Broadcast News,' it became a non-issue, and with 'The Piano,' it became a non-issue. Both parts were written for more statuesque women. It was nice to change people's minds about that, because that's neither here nor there.

I think that people are most comfortable when they can put you in a box - and that's very easy to do that when someone can put you in more serious roles. I'm not blaming them for that - it's just up to me to show people what I can do.

My first reaction to being pigeonholed or pushed into certain confines is to be like, 'No, I'm the opposite,' you know? Like, don't put me in a stereotypical black-girl category, because I'm not like that; I'm doing this thing over here.

A lot of people want to put you in a slot. They want to categorize you. So I fought that, because I liked all different kinds of music.

They see you as one thing, and you continue to do that. Do you want to play this really awkward, offbeat outsider? Yeah. I can - but I can do other things. It's having people trust that you can do other things, or proving it to them.

I am a well-spoken, educated person, and I'm also an extremely accomplished athlete. For me, it's disrespect and a slap in the face when people say I broke a mold as champion or I don't fit as champion.