Paul Rudd Quotes

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, the color of my skin and my rather peculiar background as an Ethiopian immigrant delineated the border of my life and friendships. I learned quickly how to stand alone.

I couldn't be more American if I tried. I was born in Ethiopia, but I was raised and educated as an American.

I was twice-born. I'm Mexican by nature and Hungarian by nurture.

When you are in America, at least for me, as an immigrant, I try to be as Americanized as I could. I just want to be an actor, I don't just want to be an Asian actor necessarily.

Whenever I ask myself what blackness means to me, I am struck by the parallels that exist between my predicament and that of many Western Jews, who struggle with questions of assimilation at a time when marrying outside the faith is common.

My mother is French-Italian with a little Spanish blood in her. I've been raised, and she was, as far as I know, raised as a Christian.

I would not call my family 'traditional Chinese.' We were more what I would term the Colonial Chinese.

I come from an immigrant family, but I know no other nationality apart from British.

I think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I'm English.

I was born in America, but I consider myself a Filipino.

It's a complicated issue, but I define myself as an American, primarily.

My identity is not based on performance; it's based on something that's pre-determined by someone else, and I don't even understand what that is because I'm an African who came to America.

I'm first generation in the country - my family's Mexican.

I feel Anglo-American.

I certainly know German colleagues in the U.S. who try to be Americans, try to melt into Americanism, even before they get married and become American citizens. But I've never tried that.

I always identified myself as non-Swedish. I was never discriminated against, because I looked Swedish and speak without an accent. But I had an outsider's perspective.

Nationality is a very curious thing. The blood is Scots and the temperament is Scots, but I am, in fact, 100% American.

In many ways I'm similar to Barack Obama, who also has a strange name but was raised by a white American mother. His background is far more complicated than his name would suggest. Furthermore, the fact that I was a child during the hostage crisis has caused me to equate being Iranian with being alienated.

I struggled with being a Latino growing up in Los Angeles. I felt very American. I still do. I went to 35 bar mitzvahs before I went to a single quinceanera. I could talk all day about my culture and what it means to me.

My whole life, I grew up with this double vision, this vision of America but also Latin community.

Dad's Jewish and Irish, Mom's German and Scotch. I couldn't say I was anything. My last name isn't even Downey. My dad changed his name when he wanted to get into the Army and was underage. My real name is Robert Elias. I feel like I'm still looking for a home in some way.

No matter how American I become, I'm considered part of the Chinese community by my own family.

There's a big difference between race and culture. Because racially, I'm an Indian man. Culturally, not at all.

The problem is Jewish-American fiction that always ends with assimilation back into the community.

Immigrants want to change our values and our way of life.