Daniel Dae Kim Quotes

For minority actors, developing our own projects has to be the eventual path. We have a lot of stories to tell and a really unique voice. But none of that is going to be heard as long as we're just the hired hands, acting.

Of course I want the things I write to reflect well on me or anyone who might feel represented by me, but also, I'm not writing a guidebook on how to be or how my people should be seen. I'm telling very specific stories.

When you have filmmakers like Justin Simien, writers, producers, actresses like Lena Waithe, who are people of color, they're creating their own content and saying, 'You know what? We're not going to wait on someone else to tell our story. We're going to do it ourselves. You can be a part of it or not.'

I grew up watching period dramas, as we all did in the 1980s and '90s - endless adaptations of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens - and I loved them. But I never saw anyone like me in them, so I decided to find a story to erode the excuses for me not doing one.

I grew up watching cinema in my country that wasn't telling stories about us, and we had to find a way to connect, and our references, our role models had nothing to do with us. And I'm so glad that it's changing.

I have learned to do what I want without hurting anyone. I've learned how to get away with it, with everything. I'm getting away with what I'm trying to do on film but also in my own way.

Sounding like I have agency in a song is important to me. I want to feel empowered by the music.

I feel that its important for me to be out there and to represent the face. At the same time, for me as an individual, I think the Asian-American face can be crowded with the American identity.

Don't wait around for someone else to tell your story. Do it yourself by whatever means necessary.

I wrote the chorus specifically for 'Same Love' as a narration of my story. I decided to release 'She Keeps Me Warm' as an extension of the chorus because I felt like there was more that needed to be said.

I am a woman, and I am a Latina. Those are the things that make my writing distinctive. Those are the things that give my writing power.

The fact is, Latinos now own their own lives and I believe they can afford to look back without judgment.

To a certain extent, this tour is a celebration of individuality and that you can invent and reinvent yourself. You should have the power to be able to do that. Sexuality is a part of that. It should release you. It doesn't have to be an issue. It shouldn't box you in.

I just started to write because I was fed up of not seeing the stories that I wanted, so I was like 'Stop moaning and write something.'

I want the subject to be in control. Because they will give me something I couldn't possibly know about them.

Collective freedom provides the basic conditions for people to narrate their own lives, hold power accountable, and embrace a capacious notion of human dignity.

I don't like definitions, but if there is a definition of freedom, it would be when you have control over your reality to transform it, to change it, rather than having it imposed upon you. You can't really ask for more than.

But, yeah, as far as Asian Americans go, I hope they know they can look at me and see that they can do music on their own, within a band or just on their own, and not feel like there's any barriers. I've never felt any particular barriers myself, being who I am.

You might as well go through life the way you want to. If what you want is to be engaged and forceful, to 'lean in,' well, do that.

I have the most fun writing and directing. And I always choose myself as the lead actor.

I'm in a position that allows me to do what I want to do, and I do it.

I want to be able to work on a project that will give people around the world the chance to represent their own people, their own culture, their own stories, rather than just Hollywood - really, you know, dominated Hollywood. And that's a dream of mine.

If we don't tell our own stories, no one else will.

I just went and got an agent because I thought I can create my own world - you can't right your own life, but you can escape to a world where you can have control.

My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life.