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" I was a fan of football. I was more of a Raiders fan, but I knew who O.J. was. I knew The Juice, and I remember the Hertz commercials with him running to the airport and whatnot. So he was a highbrow celebrity in my eyes. "

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Eyes

Remember

Airport

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" I think police officers are modern day heroes. I think they protect us. "

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Day

Heroes

" It's the director's job to piece together my performance, his interpretation of my takes, each take, and string them together and make a statement. I'm red paint on a canvas for a painter. "

" Don't let people disrespect you. My mom says don't open the door to the devil. Surround yourself with positive people. "

" I am admiring of my fellow peers, black filmmakers and black actors and actresses. "

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Peers

I Am

" Before I was an actor I was a break dancer, one of those street performers you see. I guess my introduction into the professional world of performing was a stint as back up dancer for Lionel Richie and I performed at the closing ceremony at the '84 Olympics. "

" When I won the Oscar, I fell into that mind-set that this is a precious role. People everywhere were shouting, 'Show me the money!' I just didn't want anything that could parody the fact that I was like a tagline in a movie. So when Steven Spielberg offered me 'Amistad,' I said no; when 'Hotel Rwanda' came along, I said no. "

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Hotel

Said

" The Academy Awards was an amazing night. I know I kind of lost my mind a little bit. I apologize for that. That night went so fast; I can't remember what I said or what happened. "

" I speak to my agent about great roles, and he's like, 'They are all going to Will Smith.' "

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Will

" It wears on your soul when you take on the mental state of a dark character. "

" I remember when Heath Ledger talked about playing the Joker... I always used to look out of the side of my eye, going, 'Yeah, actors.' But there really is a darkness when you are playing someone psychotic - you have to go there mentally. "

" There's a lack of diversity amongst executives in the position of greenlighting a film who feel that their stories are being told. If there's a diversity at the executive level, then we'll have diversity of the storytelling process. "

" I don't choose parts. I choose filmmakers. I'm done trying to make a statement with a character. What happens is, I craft a performance from the beginning to the end of the character. Then I release it to the director, and he interprets what I gave him. "

" I understand it all. I can write my own ticket for one or two movies. But if they're not the right ones, my ticket gets yanked. I understand that's how it works, and I'm okay with it. "

" It's a director's job to tell a story and he's very well versed in telling stories with a bit of comedy in them and keeping the pace of the movie right and that's exactly what he did. He was observant of a world he didn't understand but he told a wonderful story. "

" I think the biggest compliment an actor can have is if people forget who they're watching and get lost in the character. "

" As an actor you have to bring to the table your creative input. But when a director like Ridley Scott says I want you to do this this way, you know when he gets to the editing room he has a reason for it. It's like watching a masterpiece. "

" I have had this interesting love affair with London and England, though I don't know how London feels about me. "

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Interesting

Love

" I worked so much when my first son was born that I missed a lot. "

" If I told you I was a Republican and you were a Democrat, no matter what I said after that, it would be tempered with your opinions. "

" I think all my characters haunt me. Especially the real-life ones, like Master Chief Carl Brashear, the Tuskagee Airmen. Every time I see a military person, it gives me such a sense of pride but also a sense of responsibility to project excellence when representing them. "

" I have never made a decision based on race and never will. "

" Our job as artists is to reflect the ills of society sometimes and to find a truth in that, and I think you can't start the healing process until you recognize the truth and all of its ugly warts and all. "

" I rewind the TV every two minutes. If someone does something interesting, I have to see it over and over again. "

" Jonathan Lynn is one of the last actors Orsen Welles used in a production. It was wonderful. He's very sharp, very sharp. It's funny I've been asked how weird it was to have a Brit do a church gospel movie. "

" Now, I have big-money offers on three movies, and I have director approval. That's kind of scary,' he says. 'No directors have been attached. That's a lot of pressure on me. "

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Pressure

Kind

" There are roles I want that my agency might not want me to do because of the subject matter or whatever. Or there are roles that people won't bring to me because they don't think I'll do it. And that is a big strain because an actor wants to act. "

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Want

People

" I feel I'm a hammer to the construction worker that is the filmmaker. "

" It took me a month to get out of the mindset of O.J. But even now, still, I think it might have done something to my vocal chords. I went to see the doctor, and he was like, 'I don't see anything. You're fine.' But mentally, I might have broke a little bit. "

" At one point, I was greenlighting films and scripts that shouldn't have been made based on the fact that they had that stamp of approval of an Academy Award winner. And the good news is I got to learn the real process of filmmaking - directing, storyboarding, writing. "

" When I started in the business, you did television, and then when you got lucky, you got a prestige project of a film. "