I wasn't ready for the majors when I joined the Pirates in 1955. I was too young and didn't know my way around.
But I don't begrudge anybody, because I know how hard it is to have that dream and to make it happen, whether or not it's just to put a roof over your head and food on the table.
In some cases, if you are not happy with a certain scenario, you have to give it a makeover, you know?
It's just a fact of life that I don't think I've ever been taken particularly seriously in movies by movie makers. I don't know why.
Our erected wit maketh us to know what perfection is.
That's when we was makin this video stuff. They went all over the place makin it. And they was wantin to know, at the college, how I got started playin and how do I do everything - you know, all that.
Making a living out of acting sounded like science-fiction when I was growing up. I didn't know anyone around me who lived from anything related to art.
The person who does not know how to live while they are making a living is a poorer person after their wealth is won than when they started.
I have ways of making money that you know nothing of.
If you sit down with British officers or British senior NCOs, they understand the sweep of history. They know the history of British forces not just in Afghanistan but the history of British successful counter-insurgencies - Northern Ireland, Malaysia.
The working environment in L.A. is really refreshing, really good. Because in Malaysia, it's a small country - you end up working with the same people that you like and that you know.
Fortunately, the leadership of black immigrant communities has always been present in all black liberation movements from leaders like Marcus Garvey to Shirley Chisholm to Malcolm X and Harry Belafonte. We know this is our legacy.
I think there is a failure in foreign policy. And you have to acknowledge that under Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton was the architect of that foreign policy. Whether it was malevolent or not, I don't know.
I like a real beach. A crowded one, you know? People, towels, umbrellas. I hate those little private strips of sand you see up in Malibu.
I couldn't do any of my other characters, you know? But I could have done the lady. Church Lady's Malibu Beach party is an idea I have for a movie, too. Yes.
Well, all I can say is that people know I'm not saying anything out of malice.
What I've always said about comedy is if you do it in the right way, you can say anything to anybody because they know where you're coming from. They know it's not malicious.
I usually say something if I hear someone I know saying something I think is racist with malicious intent.
I am extremely malleable as an actor, but I also know how to get away with doing things the way I want, even if the director disagrees.
I know if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
