Mahershala Ali Quotes

The proliferation of styles, genres, and media need not be the death knell of anything. Instead, it's a sign that our acceptance for variation and experimentation has become wider, our interests have become more diverse, and our appetites have become more omnivorous.

I've always been drawn to all sorts of genres and all sorts of voices.

I don't know what genre out there that I would be afraid to do. If I am afraid to do it, that's not my cup of tea. It ain't much that's not my cup of tea.

I don't think that because l'm a composer I only have to compose music.

If I'm smart as an artist, I wouldn't be a snob and turn it down, because I'd look at it and go, this is great stuff, but I definitely do want to experiment in other genres, or make films in other genres.

I just know that I'm a fan of all different kinds of genres. You're supposed to be free doing music, and that's how I feel.

But I am a lover of all kinds of art. And I just can't stick to one thing. I guess I could if I made myself, but I'd always be looking the other way, for other things.

Now I don't want to feel cornered as an actor, because I've got a wider range than that.

I try not to get trapped in any one musical or visual style at all.

I'd love to do a sci-fi movie, a western, or an espionage thriller. But I'm not going to limit myself. If a good script comes along, I'm not going to discount it because it doesn't fit into one of these genres.

The genres are widening. I don't think that there's as many limitations on the kinds of projects that actors can do as there once was.

There are two sides to being pigeonholed. There's, 'Oh, no, I'm going to be Chandler for the rest of my life,' but there's also the fact that getting to play Chandler opened up doors to me. It's now my job to find things that shake it up a little bit.

I love mixing up my genres.

I'm not loyal to one genre. I want to mix it up.

I want to work with a wide range of genres because it gives each film a different cinematic energy.

It's a very subjective, personal, instinctive approach as musicians of saying, 'We don't want to replace what's around; we just want to widen the possibilities.'

Creatively I just enjoy challenging myself in different genres.

I'm not faithful to one particular medium, and it's what I try to teach to people who work with me.

I think anything I do will have an island feel, but I don't want it to be just that; I don't want to be put in a box.

I'm sure there are people who think I only do music, people who think I only do theater, and people who think I only do dramatic stuff. I do things that interest me.

I don't want to pigeonhole myself in one character or genre. I want to challenge myself as much as I can.

I don't like being pigeonholed at all. It stemmed from after 'Mandy Lane': I was being offered all these horror movies. I love horror movies, but when I dreamed of being a director, it was always doing all sorts of things.

I call myself a grasshopper. I paint, I write poetry, and I'm in a band. When it comes to movies and TV, I like to work in everything and with everyone. I wanna do it all, beyond even the screen.

I learned about embracing all different genres as opposed to just getting attached to one.

There are a lot of writers who find a groove and spend a career mining that vein. I seem to be exactly the opposite.