Diversity in Entertainment Quotes

I think diversity for most actors is such a blessing. It's something definitely I've strived for.

Whoopi Goldberg looked like me, she had hair like mine, she was dark like me. I'd been starved for images of myself. I'd grown up watching a lot of American TV.

I think it's a great time to be a person of color and with talent. And actually, to be a woman as well. Our show is one of the most diverse television shows on television right now.

If someone doesn't want to work with me because I'm playing a gay character, I don't want to work with them. They can fck off.

Let me tell you something: The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.

Women that look like me [the black ones] need to see more of themselves in social media, in film, in music.

Now the freaks are on television, the freaks are in the movies. And it's no longer the sideshow, it's the whole show. The colorful circus and the clowns and the elephants, for all intents and purposes, are gone, and we're dealing only with the freaks.

'Looking' is more than just a television show. It's contributing to the cultural conversation, and for me, those are the most exciting projects to be a part of.

I did want to mark the fact that it was the first African-American to win the Lead Actress category.I thought it was so progressive.

I'm surprised that Hollywood and networks have not been diverse as other industries.

I was just so honored to play the role of Cinderella and to just be the first African-American princess, that's just historic for me, that's such a mark in my life and my career and then the bonus of just working with my favorite person in the whole world, Whitney [Houston], like her voice just did something to my spirit.

Fortunately, Hollywood is open to change. It's just a question of how to go about doing it.

We should love the fact that we're not just getting one point of view. That we have this diversity in entertainment, and people are not scared to be themselves, and people are not scared to make people uncomfortable, and that's all part of it. That's all part of being free.

Each one is different. Each project is different. Some are silly, some are not. Some are more realistic, some are not. Some are overly dramatic, some are not. You've just got to try and find the thing that's most engaging and entertaining in whatever way, shape or form, and it's different every time.

When you look at "American Crime" and you have the character Terri LaCroix is a pharmaceutical executive - why does that character always have to be white?

I love different kinds of movies, and I love different kinds of people. That's the spice of life.

Black films and television are growing and getting the recognition... and the opportunities.

When I was signed, at the age of 23...the fact that I presented myself as an out gay man was very, very unusual.

I'm thrilled beyond belief to be different in this business. I pray that there will be more roles for bigger girls. I pray that the role of the love interest, the beautiful, sexy girl, will be played by a plus-size woman.

I don't know if I was as ambitious as to change the world, but I do feel like - the reason why I called the album "Our Version of Events" was that I feel a lot of people are not represented in pop music and popular culture.

I'm not into the Oscar and Emmys as much as I used to be because I'm tired of looking at people who don't look like me.

Even during the casting process, the pools of talent are so deep when you have a call for Latin women or black women or a middle-aged woman because they never get their shot. There's so much talent there.

I think there is a shift coming. I think we'll see more women in powerful positions, in control of studios, where there'll be more balance. And you'll see more female-driven movies and television shows, without sitting here wondering whether people are gonna like it.

I just hope this [Emmy] is now a part of the status quo that women of color are included in the narratives that continue to write lead roles for us.

There are more people who are not straight, white males going to shows.