Wendell Pierce Quotes
-
Whenever an actor was going to die, I tried to help them understand not to take it personally. It wasn't about them. It's the story.
→ -
I played trumpet for about two weeks. Sixth grade. And I didn't practice. Maybe a little longer than two weeks, but I didn't practice and I was faking it.
→ -
People forget that art is not just a piece of entertainment. It is the place where we collectively declare our values and then act on them. That's one of the most powerful things we have as a community: our culture and our art. And it's the intersection between life and how people deal with life. It's the most important thing we do.
→ -
I come out of journalism, and then book writing. There, it's just you and your editor and maybe a copy desk, looking over your editor's shoulder, and that's the story. It's right there. I can show it to you because it's on paper.
→ -
I understand that we should never lose our right to be offended, so I accept it. But for me it was always a study of human behavior because if we just demonize it, it becomes unreal.
→ -
The real question is, Why do you feel as though that's emasculating? A man can't have a conflict? When you try to do art, it's how it lands on people, and hopefully some people will see it the way that I saw it, which is all of these awful choices come from the place of a man who's damaged.
→ -
A lot of cats in New Orleans, very soulful, very soulful musicians and they assume that they're singers. And they just make that assumption. And so when there's a little intonation problem, people are very forgiving of them because they heard how soulful they play.
→ -
At Julliard we had some voice classes. It was really just so you could carry a tune. It always just helps with your speaking voice also, when you connect your diaphragm and your breath.
→ -
There's no greater honor, as an actor, to be a part of a project that changes lives, and awakens and enlightens and entertains.
→ -
When you're doing comedy on stage, it's great because you have the audience there and they're like another actor in the scene. You feed off of them, laugh. But in film when everyone's quiet, it's all about timing. But the key to that is to be authentic. Be in the moment, and if you play the moment truthfully, the humor will be there.
→ -
Culture is the intersection between people and dealing with the journey of life itself. How to deal with life, how a people deals with life is literally manifested in its culture, in its food, in its music, in its art, in the way you dance, the way you communicate.
→ -
The power of a sports team in a community it's almost indescribable.
→ -
The people of Baltimore are great. I love Baltimore. What I looked forward to, every year, was getting a new apartment in a different part of town and hanging out. People started to see you in the character that you were, so everyone thought I was real police.
→ -
Whenever I go someplace I always buy something, collect something, to help me remember the trip. So I guess I collect mementos from my many travels.
→ -
The role of culture is that it's the form through which we as a society reflect on who we are, where we've been, where we hope to be.
→ -
What thoughts are to the individual, art is to the community as a whole. That's where you reflect on who you are, who you hope to be, what you've gone through, and where you hope to go.
→ -
And that's what art is, a form in which people can reflect on who we are as human beings and come to some understanding of this journey we are on.
→ -
Gregory Hines was the most talented man I've ever met or seen. Gregory Hines is one of those people that whenever he talked to you, you felt like you were the center of the universe.
→ -
I always wanted to be a journeyman actor. I wanted to be able to do comedy and drama, classical and contemporary. I like to do film and theater. And I pride myself on that diversity of being a journeyman actor.
→ -
I'm so thankful when I have a job. I would say the worst job I ever had was the one I quit after the first night. I was an overnight restaurant janitor. And it wasn't because of the job. We had to do four restaurants in the night, overnight. But I was working with a den of thieves. I just quit the next day.
→ -
Our thoughts are to the individual as our art is to the community.
→ -
We always see abhorrent behavior and say why, but then we get mad when somebody tries to answer. Just to answer the question why does not say I'm validating behavior. I'm just saying, if we're going to be a student of human behavior, be a true student.
→ -
Culture is the intersection of people and life itself. Its how we deal with life, love, death, birth, disappointment... all of that is expressed in culture.
→ -
Be your true self. Because if you're not, there are consequences to be paid.
→ -
We don't eat to live, we live to eat because that's a part of the creativity of the day.
→ -
The whole idea of jazz came about was the interpretation of the human dialogue, trading fours. When someone's soloing and someone picks up the solo and plays it back at 'em, it was the imitation of the human dialogue. It was how people spoke, through music.
→ -
Art imitating life and life imitating art, and it's beyond the job - it will always be a marked period in my life.
→ -
We always see abhorrent behavior and say why, but then we get mad when somebody tries to answer.
→ -
Stories work, if they have a beginning, middle and end.
→ -
The Wire' really is an American classic, and I think that's something to be very proud of.
→
Related Authors
-
Thomas Lennon Actor -
Dominic West Actor -
Steve Zahn Actor -
Yvette Nicole Brown Actress -
Clarke Peters Actor -
Khandi Alexander Dancer -
Kim Dickens Film actress -
Lance Reddick Theater Actor -
Aja Naomi King Actress -
David Simon Author -
Michiel Huisman Actor -
Taylor Hackford Film director -
Gretchen Mol Film actress -
Michael K. Williams Actor -
Kerry Washington Actress -
Sonja Sohn Film actress -
Jamie Hector Actor -
Steve Buscemi Actor -
Anita Hill Attorney -
Clarence Thomas Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States