At a certain point in my career, I was probably having a difficult time 'holding space.' So you get a character that has to be commanding in order for him to resonate and make sense.

When you have these surprise breakout films that do well, that have good performances in them, it puts a lot of pressure on the Academy to recognize those projects, so it's more of a conversation about what is greenlit.

The call for diversity is about recognizing that in order to be in the conversation come awards season, it goes back to the content that is being produced.

Mahershala Ali Quotes