The commercial I did for Kia was hilarious and unexpected, so that, I think, is also another way of signaling to the audience that there's more to me than Morpheus.
— Laurence Fishburne
I actually had the opportunity to stand at the lectern in the Supreme Court and face the justices, which was really a powerful thing for me.
Things have become considerably better for men of colour since I was born. But I'd say that we'll be really getting somewhere when things get better for women of colour.
Some characters need to be more performance-orientated; some, you have to be still.
I think I've certainly learned a lot of lessons in humility and continue to work on that part of myself.
I had two times in my life where I wanted to give up everything I worked for, but God gave me a job.
Shooting a film with seven to eight actors together is complicated sometimes because you have to cover everybody.
I don't think Othello is a jealous man - he is a man who has been deceived by another person, just as everybody in the play is deceived by that person... The playwright uses the word 'jealousy' over and over and over again, but I don't think it has anything to do with being jealous.
Acting and philanthropy are braided together. I've tried to seek out things that speak not just specifically to the community that created me, but that speak in a way that's universal and all of humanity celebrates.
I try to stay in shape a little bit, but I don't obsess about it.
It's very difficult to set a film in one setting without giving the audience some intensity and some relief.
It's always a collective group of people coming together to oppose those things which are fundamentally contrary to our basic humanity.
People think my name is Morpheus. Many times, people will say to me, 'Morpheus!' and I will complete the sentence by saying, 'is not my name!'
I always want to read the script and know everything and at least understand the context of the world that you're in and why you're there and all that stuff. It's good to know something. I like to know, but I've never been one of these, 'Just show me my stuff,' no, I like to know what the whole picture is so I can understand how I fit into it.
Doing theater makes you feel like a real actor.
I didn't want to be a big star. I wanted to be a really good actor.
My mother is quite a woman. She would push me, and when I got tired of her pushing, I'd say: 'Leave me alone. Don't push so much.'
I don't necessarily go out and try to do something that's going to be just something that will please the audience. I'm not interested in doing something where I get the most people to come see the movie at the same time and they get the biggest explosion. I'm not interested in that.
Anytime we're talking about Thurgood Marshall, that's a good thing, I think, because it gives us an opportunity to go back, look at the history, and recognize what his contributions were.
Projects don't need to be special for me to sign up, but I do need them to have something that speaks to me in some way.
Acting is a childlike thing. To act well, you have to be childlike in order to free yourself.
As a movie star, you get good tables at restaurants.
I have this unshakeable faith. I believe in myself; I believe in God.
Doing 'CSI: N.Y.' is not 'CSI.' Doing 'CSI: Miami' is not 'CSI: N.Y.,' it's 'CSI: Miami.' It has a very, very specific tone. It has a very specific look. It has a specific way in which they tell their stories that's different from 'CSI: N.Y.' and 'CSI.'
When I think of Othello, I think of a poet-warrior. Let me say that again - a romantic warrior. And I think I have those qualities in common with him.
Philanthropic work reminds you of everyone's common humanity, and that's really the common denominator for everyone.
I have a man cave somewhere in California - a totally undisclosed location where manly things occur. There are motorcycles, there are secret doors and passageways. Women are welcome, but they must knock.
We don't really see a lot of war movies about the people that are left behind, dealing with the deaths of those who serve and the sacrifices they make.
My vocation is I do what I do. I'm an actor; that's what I do.
I'm not dyeing my hair and trying to pretend I'm 40. That's not going to work for me.
If you asked someone who was a Maori about how they felt about how they were treated in Australia or New Zealand, you'll get an answer. They'll have something to tell you. And you might not like what you hear.
It's nice to get the feedback from a theater audience. It's a gas.
I didn't have much of a childhood, but that's O.K. I have a livelihood.
I came up around people who took acting seriously, who cared about acting, cared about the theater and, in the '70s, made movies that said something that mattered. I came up with those people, and I was a kid. Their ethos and credo became mine.
I have taken care of my gift, and because I've taken care of my gift, I feel like I've been continually and constantly blessed to get to do wonderful things.
'Apocalypse Now' was my craziest experience ever. I was 14 years old, and I'd lied about my age to get the role. I haven't had another film top it.
Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist' means a lot to me.
You can't be bad when you're working with a kid. They have the instincts that all great actors have.
I believe in my children. I believe in human beings. I believe in the goodness that is in human beings. I believe in many, many things that I cannot prove. I believe that there's the world of the seen and the world of the unseen.
I don't ever get to the point where anything is old hat.
I ain't afraid of germs, man. And I ain't afraid of getting sick.
In order to be the best version of yourself, you have to dedicate time, effort, and support to other people who need it.
When I came into my adulthood, I recognized how fortunate I was to be doing what I loved to do.
'The Fugitive Kind,' 'Rope,' 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' - I watched all these as a way of reminding myself that you can do a movie based on a play. You can do a movie that stays in one place for a long stretch.
If you like rock and roll, if you like rhythm and blues, if you like jazz, if you like hip-hop, you might be black-ish.
It's a huge blessing to know you've done something that has affected people the way 'The Matrix' has. It's like, there's 'Star Wars,' and then there's 'The Matrix.' It's cool to be a part of that.
John Wick is not a guy that asks for help, so when he goes to somebody for help, whoever that is, you know he's a serious cat.
I think any city that does the Olympics takes on the world and has to grow and has to kind of assimilate all sorts of folks.
I can't remember a picture that has expressed black attitudes and personal relationships as vividly as we've done in 'Cadence.'
When I first read 'Boyz,' I cried. It could have been about some kids in Warsaw, Poland. I knew it was good, but I had no idea what it would do to me.
