Apollonia Kotero Quotes

I'm from L.A., but everyone thinks that I'm British.

In Mexico they think I'm Mexican. In Italy they think I'm Italian.

People don't really assume that I'm Filipino. Of course, they're gonna think, 'Oh, are you some sort of Hispanic?' and you say, 'No, I'm actually not.' I get Korean or Chinese a lot.

I'm not Irish. Just because I have red hair doesn't mean I'm a lucky charm, you know?

White people scare the crap out of me... I have never been attacked by a black person, never been evicted by a black person, never had my security deposit ripped off by a black landlord, never had a black landlord... never been pulled over by a black cop, never been sold a lemon by a black car salesman, never seen a black car salesman, never had a black person deny me a bank loan, never had a black person bury my movie, and I've never heard a black person say, "We're going to eliminate ten thousand jobs here— have a nice day

I actually spoke to one of the heads of a studio, and he said I confuse middle America. Basically, when they see a black person, they see athlete, they see rapper, or they see criminal or something like that. And then when they hear a British accent, they hear posh, so they hear lawyer or doctor.

From my situation as an African American person in the U.S., people may look at me and think a certain thing without getting to know me. I'm of Nigerian and Caribbean heritage. I went to Yale. What you see is not what you think you're getting.

The fact that people didn't know I was British did work for quite a while.

I'm Italian. I wouldn't know how to play a Jew.

I was nearly a teen-ager before I stopped assuming that everyone I met was Jewish.

I am Chinese - it doesn't matter what other people say.

People would write me hate letters. How dare I try to represent Hispanics when I was so white? I tried to make them see it was racism.

I went to prep school, Eton and Oxford. When people hear that, they think they know you, and you think: 'No, you don't.'

I remember people saying: 'You look funny, your hair is so black, you have a flat nose,' but I didn't think of it being racism, and I still don't. But there was a sense of difference, of being an outsider.

Russians call me German, Germans call me Russian, Jews call me a Christian, Christians a Jew.

Race has become an increasingly obsolete way of constructing community because it is based on unchangeable, immutable biological facts in a pseudo-scientific way.

Though I'm Punjabi, I'm often mistaken to be a Mexican or Spaniard.

People ask me where I'm from. I say Ireland, and they are like 'Really? You don't look Irish.' Then you have to explain... people are intrigued, but sometimes you think, 'Why do I have to tell my whole story every time I open my mouth?

After 'Gangs,' people thought that I couldn't speak a sentence in English or that I don't wear jeans or, you know, I am a city girl.

A lot people who hear that 'Go New York Go' assume that I must be black.

Everyone has images in their mind of what to expect from different groups.

I'm Colombian. My family all have different complexions; some are people of color. I've been called every name by white people, been mocked for speaking in Spanish by white people.

Everyone thinks I am Punjabi till I tell them my surname Chakraborty.

I had kids make fun of me because not only was I blonde but also Polish.

Irish people never think we're Irish. Americans think we're European or French.