I think something that every actor wants, whether they've done four movies or forty movies, is they want to find the work interesting. You want to come to work and think this is going to be a challenge.
Taika WaititiRead
I did roles that I hated, and there were roles that were detrimental to my acting ability. There were roles that I was always doing that were always the comic relief... it was destroying my soul.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the struggle of an artist facing roles that hinder their true potential and creativity.
Taika Waititi speaks to the experience of an actor who has taken on roles that do not resonate with them personally, particularly those that serve only as comic relief. This experience not only undermines their artistic integrity but also is described as harmful to their spirit, highlighting the importance of pursuing meaningful and fulfilling work in one’s creative journey.
In practice
Use this quote during a discussion about the challenges actors face in Hollywood.
I think something that every actor wants, whether they've done four movies or forty movies, is they want to find the work interesting. You want to come to work and think this is going to be a challenge.
If someone asked, 'What are your films like?,' the best I can come up with is that they're, like, a fine balance between comedy and drama. And they deal mainly with the clumsiness of humanity.
I'm not interested in doing work that doesn't captivate me.
People overcoming the odds is actually a really important part of humanity, and I don't think we kind of get to celebrate that as much as we should.
The stuff I'm passionate about is what I write; it isn't multi-million-dollar franchise movies.
I love films that make you feel something but also deliver that payload behind jokes.
At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different.
We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.
I like to be the right thing in the wrong space and the wrong thing in the right space. But usually being the right thing in the wrong space and the wrong thing in the right space is worth it, because something funny always happens.
In the earliest ages science was poetry, as in the later poetry has become science.
Any woodthrush shows it - he sings, not to fill the world, but because he is filled.
By attracting attention to yourself, you distract people from the movie. Ideally, you like a movie to speak for itself. You don't describe a song before you sing it or tell about a painting before you show it. You don't reveal the recipe before you serve the dish. You taste it.
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