Radhika Apte Quotes

It was great to be able to play a hero in 'The Magnificent Seven' in a film industry where Asian actors are often limited to playing a villain.

It's so easy to make an Asian person the doctor, the lawyer, the smart kid in school. What's harder is challenging the norm and hiring Asian actors to play your Average Joe.

The more visibility, the more opportunities for Asian-American actors to play great roles. It goes to the studios opening up roles they might not have considered Asian actors for. The talent is there. I don't think there needs to be one superstar, but having more roles open up, that's the way changes happen.

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

It's so exciting to headline a film. It's not every day you see a Latina carrying a full-length feature.

Latinos that are in the industry writing and producing, they can't be afraid to go out there and say, 'I want my lead to be Latino. And I want to talk about this, I wanna write about that.' And Latinos as a whole, as a people in America, need to go out and support.

You go to Los Angeles or New York or Miami or Chicago, and you see Latinos everywhere; they are involved in every part of American society. That's why they have to start being represented in Hollywood, because an 'Americano' can't walk down the street and not see a Latino.

Once there are more African Americans and Asian Americans behind the scenes as producers, writers, and directors, I think more inclusive casting will happen.

I always prided myself on trying to break the stigma of the 'dumb jock.'

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

In many ways the film business is behind what's going on culturally. We are a world that is becoming more diverse and there's no going back.

My wish would be for positive representation and more diversity coming from Hollywood.

Poitier opened the doors to so many artists, not just black artists. There is a line that goes from black to Latin to Asian with regards to roles.

Growing up biracial, I didn't have someone to look up to watching TV or movies. Halle Berry was the closest one who looked like me. I'm happy to see more biracial people on screen, and I'm happy to represent for the little girls who didn't have someone who looked like me on TV.

As the 20th century unspooled, a cultural warming melted down many frozen class characteristics.

I want to see more Asian. I want to see more Latin. I want more Indian. There's more than Mindy Kaling out there, guys! There's more than Bai Ling.

When I started coming to the U.S., they were offering me only the typical stereotypical roles: the druggard, the criminal, the gang member, or in the best-case scenario, the gardener or the cook. I was fed up with all these roles that were always the same. And I promised I would try to change the image of Latinos in Hollywood.

If you remain open to great directors who look like you, who know what they're doing and are making impactful films that are destroying these 'blockbuster films,' you can do okay, and everybody can get more of a piece of the pie. But you've got to be open and brave.

When I was growing up, all these superheroes were white. On some level, you put that out of your mind... but as you get older, you realize it's a very one-sided affair. So I'm very glad to see that these movies are becoming more diversified.

Iris is the Lois Lane of 'The Flash.' It's a really special role. Knowing they were willing to offer it to an African American - Iris is traditionally white - I knew how important this would be for so many people.

One of my staff members told me that after the release of the film, whenever a custodial death is reported, people say - 'Another 'Visaranai.' This is the kind of change that I am looking for; it should hit you hard.

I need to just make as much noise and bang on as many doors as possible 'til men are, like, giving you the recognition.

I'd never been around or seen a black showrunner, and in some ways you wish that it wasn't a big deal.

There has to be more opportunities for Asian or black actors.

We are moving into a phase where what was once alternative cinema is becoming mainstream. I like being in that space.