J. August Richards Quotes

I know some black actresses who have to wait every 19 films for a role. I can be cast in practically every one as a young white male.

I've been fortunate in my career, but, yes, there have been many times when I have been told my audition has been cancelled because they're only going to see white people.

I was maybe one of two black kids in the drama department. It was, 'Well, you can't play this role because that guy has a white girlfriend or a white cousin or whatever.'

We're all complaining about diversity in Hollywood, but we've got to address the colorism within the black community of Hollywood first.

I've been asked far too often, 'Can you be blacker?' I've gotten done with auditions and heard, 'We're not going to go black with this character.'

The truth is, no, we don't live in a post-racial state anywhere in America, and this is particularly true in Hollywood.

In Australia, there just weren't strong roles for actors of colour. I was often being asked to turn up for commercials with a ghetto blaster on my shoulder. I thought, 'Are we in the '60s?'

That's one of the problems with Hollywood. It'll say 'policeman,' and an unless it says 'black policeman,' a lot of times you won't even get the opportunity to read for it, which is kind of crazy, but that's the way it is.

I go to castings and see several black and Asian girls, then I get to the show and look around there's just me and maybe one other coloured face.

We're told that independent film lovers... folks that are used to watching art house films, won't come out and see a film with black people in it - I've been told that in rooms, big rooms, studio rooms, and I know that's not true.

Why is the world that I see around me mixed, and why is the world I see in movies filled with all white people? Why does it have to be like that?

The industry looks for white actors and actresses, but it's not the same for black actors. We have to really put the work in.

Early on, I played a Chinese delivery person, and even that, which was very innocuous, felt like I was somehow betraying myself. I felt very self-conscious on set doing that role, with a crew that was almost entirely white.

We need to have a conversation about the fact that black faces are not as visible as they should be, that there is huge inequality everywhere in terms of race.

The way Hollywood and TV is, black people don't have any choice but to see ourselves in white-dominated television shows and stories and movies.

I was looking around this room, this sea of industry folk. If I had have worn black and white, somebody would have asked me to get them a cocktail; the only other people of colour there were servers.

When I was pitching 'Power,' I had an executive say, 'Well, I already have a black show.' He said that right to my face.

I had a casting director tell me to be blacker.

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

The only difference between me and those other great Yankees is my skin color.

I've always been a fan of issues around race and racialism, and I've loved playing with it. People act as though it isn't an issue, but it's a recurring theme in our lives globally.

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.

If I were to wait only for roles that clarify my racial makeup, I'd be waiting for a very, very long time.

I'd heard he was good, and what the hell sense does it make not to hire somebody because of their color?

What's hardest for me to swallow is when there is a love story, say, with a really high-profile male star and there's no reason I can't play the part. They say, 'Oh, we love Halle, we just don't want to go black with this part.'