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" When I started in the business, you did television, and then when you got lucky, you got a prestige project of a film. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Television
Lucky
Film
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" 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. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Award
Process
Good
" Don't let people disrespect you. My mom says don't open the door to the devil. Surround yourself with positive people. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Positive
Yourself
Mom
" I speak to my agent about great roles, and he's like, 'They are all going to Will Smith.' "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
He
Like
Will
" I was in the wilderness of Hollywood for almost ten years. I was off the studio lists. I wasn't getting the roles offered to actors that hadn't done a third of the roles I had done or had the popularity I had. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Done
Hollywood
Years
" 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. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Doctor
You
Think
" When you're watching a movie and find yourself getting emotional, it's because you're bringing something personal to the images. It's the same thing with acting. You're bringing the essence of your core emotional being to that moment. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Yourself
You
Moment
" 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
Me
People
" The truth is, you don't ever decide on a role, not when you first begin. You audition for the role, and you're lucky to get it. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
You
Truth Is
Truth
" I think the biggest compliment an actor can have is if people forget who they're watching and get lost in the character. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Character
Forget
Lost
" 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
" 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. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Last
Weird
Funny
" 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. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Beginning
End
Performance
" I have never made a decision based on race and never will. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Never
Will
Race
" 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. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Remember
Look
Darkness
" The roles that I always get attracted to are roles where the material is based on an actual person. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Person
Where
Always
" I am admiring of my fellow peers, black filmmakers and black actors and actresses. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Am
Peers
I Am
" It wears on your soul when you take on the mental state of a dark character. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Dark
Mental
Soul
" I'm not a prude. On the set, they called me 'Butt Naked.' "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Me
Set
Naked
" My wife and I have been together since 1986. I graduated in '86 and she graduated in '88. We began dating when she was 17. Actually she turned 18 when we started kissing and stuff. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Dating
Wife
Together
" 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
Me
" I worked so much when my first son was born that I missed a lot. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Missed
Son
First
" I think police officers are modern day heroes. I think they protect us. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Day
Us
Heroes
" I rewind the TV every two minutes. If someone does something interesting, I have to see it over and over again. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Someone
Interesting
Over
" 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. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Pride
Time
Excellence
" 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
Me
" As an actor, when you're winning the moment over, there's a truth to your intention. You might laugh at it or you might cry at it, but I think your visceral reaction to it is a reaction to the truth of the moment. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Moment
Laugh
Winning
" 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. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Street
You
World
" 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. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Story
Understand
Comedy
" The hardest part was when I was in high school not having a job and always being broke. I had to get to auditions without a car. I either took the bus or walked. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
School
Always
High School
" I feel I'm a hammer to the construction worker that is the filmmaker. "
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Feel
I Feel
Construction