A Quote by Whoopi Goldberg
There are roles I am never considered for. Meryl Streep roles, let's say. Why not? I really wanted to do 'Ironweed,' for example, because the depression era in this country was one of the best for multiracial people, because everybody was poor. Everybody lived in the tents, and under buildings, and under gratings, together.
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Look at the vast range of roles portrayed by Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, or say Halley Berry. Their works are now my inspiration.
The thing is, everybody wants to be famous. Everybody wants to be successful. Everybody wants to be that dude, but not everybody wants to do the work for it. And I think that's probably one of the reasons why there's so many juniors and only a couple that make it. Because I really wanted it. I wanted it real bad.
You have to get out of your comfort zone in order to grow. And as an actor, you don't become Meryl Streep by doing the same type of comedy. You get there by being challenged. And unfortunately, there's a lack of roles for women of color, so you actually have to be the engineer creating some of those roles.
I am constantly visible in TV shows because anybody who is thinking of a role sees me performing on TV and may say, 'Why not him?' That way I am always in the limelight. It's better than running around for good roles. I can't lobby for roles.
I've lost a lot of jobs because I was too pretty. And everybody's like "Oh, poor you." But seriously, you don't get the good roles when you're beautiful.
I have never planned my career. I chose those films with which I could relate myself. But if given a chance, I would love to do the kind of roles Meryl Streep has done.
You have actresses like Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, who have roles specially written for them.
I don't really know if I'm writing the kind of roles that Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore would play. Jessica Lange on 'American Horror Story' is a little bit more my cup of tea.
Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep can play with the boys but there just aren't that many tour-de-force roles out there for women.
When I started in the business, years ago, people would always say, "You better get as much work as you can now because, once you get over 40, it's over." I don't see that with TV. Maybe it's because I am getting older, but the kinds of roles I'm drawn to are more mature roles.
Most people say I look mean, and because I play so many tough roles and because of my size and my martial arts background, they think I am, but I'm really not.
I wanted to play roles which offered new ways of viewing black women and black people in general- and I have done that. And I have always, whether I needed to pay the rent or not, I've always turned down roles which I thought were stereotypical. And so when I look at my body of work in that respect, I am really happy. Because I feel my work does say something positive and that was what I always set out to do.
One of the people I've always wanted to emulate in pursuing that dream was Meryl Streep, in terms of the different types of roles she's been able to play and the number of different stories she's been able to tell.
When you're a woman in your 40s, it's not the best time to do films, because there really aren't that many roles. Then you reach 50 and there are more roles again. Mother parts.
Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren, Meryl Streep - I love actresses that are strong and fragile at the same time. They bring complexity to their roles.
I never wanted to be a brand director. I didn't want that kind of stamp. I wanted to be more like Pacino or Dustin Hoffman or Meryl Streep or De Niro - you know, a chameleon as a storyteller - because I love all kinds of movies.
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