Jeffrey Wright Quotes

When you agree to work with a filmmaker, it's important that you accept their world. It's an adventure. I like that. I throw myself into the director's arms, into their universe.

People think if you're a movie star, you're the boss. But first of all, I'm not a movie star, I'm in a very different place. I'm not looking to do what I want - I am looking for what we can find. It's a creative process.

My career is based primarily upon finding a balance with a director and their vision, and that means sublimating my own personal ego toward their material.

What goes on between the actor and director is sacred.

All directors have their strengths and weaknesses, as all actors have, and all artists. What you try to do is complete the relationship and take care of the stuff that the director won't take care of.

I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed.

One is, that they will feel about you that you're going to make something wonderful for them. And they help you by expressing themselves. Not telling you how to do it, but encouraging you and accepting your vision and working with you on that kind of a level.

When I give over to somebody's vision rather than have an idea of what I need to do, it takes me to places I wouldn't have got to by myself. I'm always attracted to a strong director.

I love working with directors who have good taste. It's incredible when a director can say something and things open up for you. I went to The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and some of my best experiences on sets have been working with other alums.

I have the most respect for Rick. You're always going to see a Shameik Moore and Rick Famuyiwa film.

When I sign on for a project, I'm there to give the director all the material he or she might need to tell their story, and that's the number one priority.

The directors I respect are the ones who have a collaborative attitude, who collaborate with actors.

When the director has a vision for a piece that I've never heard before, and they can back that up with visuals, and they talk a good game, I get really interested in the world that they're trying to create.

So yeah, a good director will be able to listen and hear everything, but have a confident vision of his own that he can say, 'oh yeah - that's a great point.' And you never know; often you can help far more than you think you can, because there's so much more that he's juggling than an actor.

You can be playing a line some way and the director wants you to change that, or you can disagree. But I always think that the creative conversation between director and actor is what leads to good work.

All these directors, and I would include the Coen brothers and Quentin, have a very unique vision of what they want. They listen to ideas and make people feel like everyone is making the film.

In a collaborative environment directors hire actors because they want their input, not just their bodies.

I'd work with Danny Boyle every day of the week. No matter what he was doing I would do that.

If you understand each other's way of thinking, you understand what kind of film someone is trying to make, and all the ideas that I come up with will fit into that film.

It was awesome working with Miley. She's a visionary and she's a creator and has a lot of ideas.

When I'm in a session with an artist, my job is to help execute their vision - so it's whatever story they're telling, and the news doesn't specifically affect that.

I think when I work with artists, I'm at their service, and I'm at the service of either their vision or a vision that we find together and we share.

I think the more you know people and the more you get to know artists, the better you can collaborate.

I like to work with the best artists, full stop, around the world, and just make things happen man.

When I watch dance, most of the time I just see a potential that is not there at all. I just see they missed the point. They just give us a tiny bit of what it could be.