Defying Labels Quotes

I've never really gotten into the whole labels thing. There were times I would cover a pop song, and people would say 'You sound really country.' I gave up on that whole thing a long time ago.

I love being an enigma. Every time I'm tempted to respond to someone who tries to put me in a box, politically - you know, someone who gets on the Internet and says, you're pro-gun, or you're anti-gun - I stop and say to myself, 'This is great; this is what I wanted. I wanted to be the guy you can't figure out.'

I grew out of the habit of thinking or worrying about being seen as the typical Asian. I don't even know what that means anymore. I'm not really concerned with it.

Never categorize yourself, society does that to you, don't do it to yourself.

Part of my reason for 'Session 9' was to break out, to destroy the illusion of me as 'Mr. Romantic Comedy Guy.'

I've sort of made a reputation by high-stepping my way out of genre. As soon as somebody says, 'He does this,' I'm not standing there anymore.

For so long, we were labeled - you're a girly girl, you're a tomboy, you're this or that - but now we can do what we want. One style doesn't define me.

Don't live up to your stereotypes.

At first, I felt like I was put into this box because I played hockey. I thought that I was viewed a certain way, and I shouldn't wear certain clothes. Finally, I stepped aside and said, 'That's someone else's creation of me. I can be feminine and be strong.'

I think I'm always conscious of not letting things fit into a specific box. Being a filmmaker and trying to chart a career, you never want anyone to be able to pigeonhole you into one specific thing.

Societies have been conditioned to believe that entertainers are just that, but I refuse to be put into the box of a puppet.