I really appreciate Barry Jenkins as a filmmaker and the fact that he's always wanting to push the envelope and challenge perspective and make people uncomfortable in a way that doesn't seem like it's allowed anymore.
— Stephan James
My mom used to buy us a whole lot of VHS tapes - we had boxes of them, hundreds of them. So we would just go through movies all the time.
The best filmmakers have a very familial attitude in sort of embracing the set, beyond the cast, with the wardrobe, and the hair and makeup, and the props, just making everybody feel very familial.
I want to continue to grow and evolve, and I want to help other people grow and evolve.
The first time I sat in a theater and watched myself on a screen was an out-of-body experience. It blew my mind.
I enjoy challenging perspective - challenging ideas of what it means to be a black man.
My parents are from Jamaica, and I love reggae music.
We have to start creating more material that gives a platform for people of colour, for women, for old people and young people alike to be able to showcase their talent. It's much bigger than a black or white thing.
When we started making 'Selma,' the Black Lives Matter movement didn't exist. The parallels between Martin Luther King staging these marches, suffering police brutality... we weren't even aware when making the film that these sorts of things would start to happen again in 2015.
While shooting 'Selma,' I would train on my off time with the assistant men's track and field coach at Georgia Tech.
I care a lot about who I'm working with as directors and other actors.
I really believe in speaking things into existence.
Luckily enough, I've been able to work with Ava DuVernay, who was able to rally this large ensemble and get us all on the same page for 'Selma.'
When is not a good time to speak up for our vets and support them in any way that we can?
I've always been pretty reserved, but after taking drama classes in middle school to get more comfortable performing in front of people, I thought I should try out for television.
It's important to me for the world to see black men in different capacities - capacities in which they're probably not used to seeing them.
I'm from Toronto, so I listen to a lot of Toronto artists.
I feel like I've always been an actor.
Growing up, I was always into sports - basketball and volleyball - but I wasn't really a runner.
I've had some experience in track and field in school, but I did have to train to be able to play Jesse Owens - to be a runner, to be an Olympian.
I got obsessed with impersonations: impersonating people that I knew - people, not famous people but people like my family. At first, it was just fun; it's always been just fun. But I sort of got to a point in maybe seventh or eighth grade where I started getting heavily involved in drama programs via programs in my high school.
I've been a big fan of Barry Jenkins for a long time.
I think I have an incredible group of people that I work with and people I'm inspired by and community I'm inspired by, and I just want to see us all win and continue to grow and flourish and do incredible things and tell stories in the way they've never been told. Take risks, be bold, and be smart.
I'm black, yeah, but I'm just an actor, so everything I do doesn't have to be color-specific or specific to history. But I got to a point where a lot of people wanted to offer me period pieces, like that's the only thing I could do.
I know I'm a black actor, but really, I'm an actor who happens to be black.
I definitely have to make sure I have my Jamaican playlist whenever I go, and you've gotta listen to Popcaan. I really love his song 'Silence,' but the whole album, 'Forever,' is good. I love his melodies and flows. He just knows how to make good songs.
I've loved Basquiat since I was 13. From his artwork to his interviews to the way he thought about things, I've always been excited by him.
Everything I do is just an opportunity to tell a great story.
When I first got the call from my manager asking if I'd ever heard of Jesse Owens, I recognized the name, looked him up, and was blown away by his story.
