Forest Whitaker Quotes

This is going to sound pretentious and esoteric, but I truly mean it from the bottom of my heart. Acting has always been a spiritual journey for me. The very first project I ever acted on paralleled my experience so perfectly even before I was aware of it.

I've tried to reinvent myself from time to time, and I enjoy doing movies.

Acting is a passion, but I have been taking time off to direct once in a while because it helps me reinvent myself.

I love my job, I love being an actor and stepping into the shoes of different characters and exploring their lives. It's enriched my life extremely. I've learned more about myself and the ways of life through being an actor.

In acting, you get to explore such an artistic side with different characters to research and learn and explore different things inside yourself and I do that anyway, so I might as well be doing something that I already do, as in a second nature to me, on film.

I wasn't born an actress, you know. Events made me one.

My life is at least as intricate as my readers' lives. People say that 'The Artist's Way' changed their lives, but when they talk about 'Floor Sample,' they tell me, 'I was with you all the way.'

I didn't want to play a lawyer. I didn't want to play a doctor. I didn't want to play a single dad. I wanted to do something I felt I could learn from, something that would be a challenge and something that would not dry up.

I became an actress because my mom wanted me to become an actress. It took me until my mid-30s to realize I actually didn't. I actually wanted to write and direct and be more involved in politics and humanitarian issues.

I couldn't be 'Johnny' in front of a camera in acting jobs and behind the camera I like to be 'Michael.' With directing, you can't do it by halves. There's a lot of reflection, and I have found that I, as 'Michael,' thrive on it. It's lovely coming home and feeling that stuff from a day's work as myself.

I believe acting to be my own journey through connection more than anything else, but that's only my take on it.

My shadow in my art is one way I trace who I was and where I have been. My shadow and I have been on a journey for quite a while now!

I had to work out where I was going, what type of films I wanted to make. For that reason, I decided to choose independent productions, less important roles, and I tried theater, too.

Sometimes there are certain things that you gotta grow into. Sometimes, for some actors, they know it spiritually at a young age. Others need to grow into it.

I spent 12 years doing different things in film trying to figure out the story I wanted to tell.

Music is about people for me. It's not about sounds. It's about people; it's about putting people into challenging situations. And for me, challenges are opportunities.

My acting career wasn't going where I wanted it to. I wasn't getting good parts. I got so bored with myself that I started writing.

Being a human being is all about experiencing all of the wonders of the world and therefore as an actress, I'm open to any opportunity that may enrich my horizon.

I was busy welcoming a new experience. I had never done a movie before.

I will always be an actress. I couldn't see myself without acting. But I'd love to direct and keep writing. I don't think one has to be in place of the other.

Theater opened up a whole new world for me. It was a freedom I'd never known before.

I love to act, and I try to be challenged by what I do.

It used to annoy and frustrate me to have to come in and audition. I would say to my agents, 'Haven't they seen this film and this film and this film? They know what I look like... They must.' Until I directed an episode of 'Roswell.' And all of a sudden, I realized why that was such an important thing.

As an actor, you express certain things because they need to be expressed, and then you don't really feel a need to do it again. I want to feel something else, you know?

When I started acting classes, I was inspired. The truth is I never dreamt of being an actress as a child. But it just happened. When I started studying and getting on stage, it just came to me. I never said 'I want to be an actress.' It just happened. I started discovering myself and realized I loved it.