Diverse Portrayal Quotes

We don't really get to see gay characters who are completely open with their sexuality, but it doesn't define who they are.

I'm an actor who believes in looking different in every film of mine.

I get to represent a lot of different types of women because of my ability to transform into these different people.

I've played gay, and I've played straight... I'm proud to be a gay man myself, and I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to play a variety of different gay men.

I wanted Luke Cage to very much be an African American superhero rather than a superhero that happens to be black. I felt it was important to give him that cultural grounding but also show that it doesn't make him an obtuse or one-sided character.

It feels good to watch TV and know that you're being represented on somebody's network and for certain communities, it feels even better to know that you're being depicted truthfully.

It's nice to play someone who functions in a very different way than I do.

Everything you do is different, and you find different chords in every character that you play that strike true with you.

I tend to play every color in the Southern rainbow, and the challenge is to make each character different so I'm not doing any generic 'Southern acting.'

I want audiences to see me in different avatars.

I did 'Pines,' and everybody wanted me to be the bad boy. Then I did Tony in 'Brooklyn,' and everybody wanted me to be the sweet kid. So I just want to keep everybody on their toes. Basically, that was the thought process.

After 'Jessica Jones' came out, I started hearing firsthand from a lot of women who were so inspired by the character, who felt represented, who felt like watching Jessica on screen helped them in their own lives. Women are devouring content like that because everybody is complicated; not everybody is one thing.

For a long time, with a lot of women of the trans experience on television, people have only got to see one aspect of their life. With 'Pose,' it's broadened the scale.

Cyborg represents not just people who are differently abled: he is also a representation of the black community and people of colour within the Justice League. Being able to don both those mantles with the integrity which that character would need to be portrayed and was adhered to was something that was very important.

I have always tried to portray each role as differently as possible.