I called Scott Rudin, and I told him I wanted to do the play [Fences], so that's how the ball got rolling. I never said, "I'll do the play, and the next year I'll do the film, I just wanted to do the play."
I always feel that there is a curtain, you know, that if I could just peek behind the curtain I'd see how the world really works. And since I haven't had it I have to write about it instead.
First you draw what you see. Next, you draw what you know, and only then will you know what it is that you see.
I just wanted to play tennis. I started because I wanted to pick up another sport and then as I was slowly getting better I wanted to see how far I can go but I always wanted to be myself. I wanted to be original. I didn't want to copy anybody's style.
If the ruler wants to play the game by himself and follow secret policies, he must present a decoy to the masses. He cannot escape the mass; but he can draw between himself and that mass an invisible curtain, a screen, on which the mass will see projected the mirage of some politics, while the real politics are being made behind it.
A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out.
I learned from Jimi Hendrix. They all wanted him to do the tricks, and at the end of his career, he just wanted to play. I lived longer than he did, and I can see how those pressures can really play with your head.
Well, I go to the theater today, and its curtain - there is no curtain in this play; the lights go down and go up - and we start. And I live this character for two hours. There are only two of us in the play. And It's a complete experience.
I come from the theater, so I like it being: curtain up, this is what we want you to see, we have a reason for showing it to you, and then the curtain comes down, and that's it.
Just like how male actors get to play varied characters, I would also like to play characters that people don't normally see female characters portraying on screen.
Martial arts just normally would not draw me to the box office.
So much of the game is mental, and that's one thing that I've always wanted to be good at. That if I miss a shot or make a bad play, to never let your opponent see that you are in duress or upset - that they've won in any way. So if I make a big game-time bucket or if I miss a shot, you'll see the same mannerisms. I move on to the next play.
Generally I draw every day just to keep my hand in. I draw while I'm sitting on the Tube or in restaurants. Just doodling things and people I see.
Don't worry about how you 'should' draw it. Just draw it the way you see it.
We will draw the curtain and show you the picture.
I knew from the age of five what I wanted to do. The one thing I could do was draw. I couldn't draw that much better than some of the other kids, but I cared more and I wanted it badly.