Anthony Mackie Quotes

I also have a film coming up called Breaking Up, and my part in that was not written for a Latina, and my character is not particularly pretty or sexy or exotic.

When it comes to African Americans and African American actors, Hollywood has always felt that if you can make us laugh, that's fine, but we don't need to see you do a 'Schindler's List,' where there's no jokes or music or comedic through-line.

With 'Broadcast News,' it became a non-issue, and with 'The Piano,' it became a non-issue. Both parts were written for more statuesque women. It was nice to change people's minds about that, because that's neither here nor there.

I do believe, as a person of color, the disparities are great. A lot of the roles that were sent to me were 'Gangbanger No. 1.' And when a role did come up that I felt carried and represented my community in the best ways, I wasn't the only one that knew it existed. So I'd have to compete.

Until recently, Hollywood offered only a handful of roles to actors of color. The majority of my opportunities have fallen into two categories: Scary Black and Funny Black.

It has happened with me that I get a role of a cop for a film. Few directors typecast you if you do that particular role well. But, it is the actor who has to decide whether he fits in that role or not.

There has got to be a way for me to have a role on TV or in film that is just as normal as any other white actor. That's what I'm trying to get at.

People say, "How come you play bad guys so much?" And I say, "Well, have you seen many Asian good-guy roles?"

Basically, I would like to be considered for roles that are well-written. I think that part of the problem that we've had as actors is that they insist on looking at us as Latino actors and not as actors, period.

I politely refuse to be part of movies where I have to do sister or sister-in-law to protagonists.

My agent and I are very clear on what kind of roles I'm interested in, and I don't want to perpetuate any stereotypes.

You get into these executive offices, and people say, 'Oh, we have this project. Wait a minute, guys, we need diversity - let's choose a black actor for this; let's choose a Hispanic actor for this,' instead of saying, 'That's not diverse, that's just normal. That's what makes up America.'

People are always asking me if the industry is changing, and my answer is always that it is changing only as much as we are. Many South Asian actors complain about being pigeonholed into playing terrorists and cab drivers, but it's time that we stop talking about it. The industry will always say 'No' till we have enough to convince them.

If you have a meaty part to play, I don't see the harm in being part of multi-starrers. Moreover, I will be happy to be a part of a good film than playing lead roles in some bad films.

A lot of the shows I have done, I'm often the only black guy and I have often had to play second or third fiddle. It isn't necessarily a bad thing if it is a strong ensemble cast. But I feel people have overlooked my abilities.

I wasn't, like, pretty enough to be the ingenue; I wasn't 'character' enough to be the goofball sidekick. I'm kind of ethnically ambiguous.

I do try to look at scripts and keep an eye out for challenging roles.

After 'Champion,' I got like 20,000 psychopath roles! And they wanted me to strip and show my body in every film. But I have tried to balance my roles.

I think once you get noticed as an actor you get roles irrespective of the characters you portray.

I had a niche. And my niche was that I was brown. So it's like, 'Great, I get to go up for all these 'brown parts.'' I call them 'brown parts' because that's what they are. That's not to be resentful, because I loved playing those parts - I got to meet so many cool actors.

Being a Filipino actor in Hollywood, the most frustrating part of landing roles in Hollywood is definitely the limited roles available and the lack of diversity.

I don't think people realize what it's like for people of color to audition for film and TV.

Lack of diversity in Hollywood has been well documented thanks to #OscarSoWhite, but lack of diversity in the documentary world is less talked about.

A good deal of my effort goes into the selection of films, because these things cannot be just predicted, so I am careful about the movies I finally do. Next year, too, I will have four or five films where I play different roles.

A newcomer needs to be careful as to what kind of role they choose. If you choose something different, you will end up getting typecast. That's why I chose to play a character my age, to keep my options open for the future.