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" 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. "

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" 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

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

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

" The roles that I always get attracted to are roles where the material is based on an actual person. "

" 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. "

" 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 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

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

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

" 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. "

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

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Will

" When you see my performances, even people that you might have known, like Nicky Barnes in 'American Gangster,' you have to get over the fact that I look like Cuba Gooding, Jr. But once you find truth in the performance, if I'm doing my job right, you believe everything. "

" 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've been given that gift of working with Jack Nicholson and James Coburn and certain people who just out of nowhere break into stories - talking about working with Alfred Hitchcock or Kubrick. That's my real reward of my career. "

" 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. "

" 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 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. "

" 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. "

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