Quotes by Mahershala Ali

At that moment in time when we feel like the other, we were not the person embraced, not one of the cool kids, not in the club - when youre that person, it makes you feel smaller, and when they persecute you as a result, thats a difficult position to be in.

Now, being one who lived in the era of Obama, there are so many markers of improvement made. Its hard to be mindful of that, in the same way youre going, Oh everythings cool now! and it isnt. But I try to be mindful of how much of an improvement there has been because that gives hope. You need hope. I need hope!

The real guys that I knew were really cool people, who I played basketball with and traveled with on teams and knew their families and knew that they love their family. They just happen to do something that wasnt all the way legal, but it was a part of their life, and you knew that they hustled.

I was a sports kid.

Social media has colonized what was once a sacred space occupied by emptiness: the space reserved for thought and creativity.

There are instances where youre in a space with someone who has been extraordinarily successful, and they dont necessarily connect with you as another person. You can be a prop for them to deliver their stuff, and youre just another element in the scene.

I love Michelle Williams. I think shes extraordinary. I was such a fan of Blue Valentine, and I heard stories about how Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams worked on that. They lived together for a period of time as rehearsal. From nine in the morning to five at night, living in a space together. The work is really awe-inspiring.

Its still amazing, but when I was growing up, Harlem was the Mecca of black culture. I was so inspired by it, the aspirational feeling youd get spending time there. Experiences that were really specific to that place.

Im excited about Luke Cage with Michael Colter, who plays Luke Cage. I play the villain, Cottonmouth. It takes place in Harlem. Itll just be amazing for people to get to see an African-American superhero, which there werent any when I was growing up.

I got my Equity card right out of NYU grad school in 2000, doing The Great White Hope at Arena Stage. I played Jack Jefferson. It was an amazing part to walk into, to carry that responsibility for that amount of time. The challenges and the breadth of that role were pretty amazing.

At graduate school in 1999, I finally had the chance to examine why I believe what I believe. I realised that Id had no period in my life where Id consciously tried to develop my own theology.

My mom and stepdad were strict. I couldnt date I couldnt go out. And I was a kid who was never good at just taking no for an answer. I needed to understand why. And sometimes they werent interested in explaining.

My parents were in high school when I was born. My mom was 16, my dad was 17. They were kids, at the very beginning of coming into their own and finding themselves.

In terms of pace, I think I just have to revisit my relationship with expectations. That has a little bit to do with comparing ourselves to other people and seeing other peoples journey and seeing how they had a certain success at a certain age.

I started traveling by myself as early as 5 to see my dad. Id go to Toronto or Los Angeles, depending on what show he was doing, but most often New York, and we would hang out, and hed take me to museums and Broadway plays. The ones that had the biggest impact on me were the George C. Wolfe productions.