I didn’t know anything about acting at all. I was completely green. I got into it to meet people, to try and figure out what I wanted to do. Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
It’s one of the roles of a lifetime to be able to play someone like Mr. Cochran who was so influential. People knew about his work in regard to police brutality. He was very much a staple in the community – someone who, if there was trouble, people knew, ‘Go get Johnnie Cochran.’ Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
Wes Anderson is a perfectionist, so you have to just be ready to try it this way, try it this way, try it that way, and then try it this way. And then, once you think you’ve got it all and it’s done, then you’re going to be called back in two or three months so you can try it that way and try it this way. You’ve got to give him all of it. Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
Our parents didn’t let us watch a lot of television growing up. We had Disney on Sunday nights, and at 8:30, they were like, ‘Turn it off! Go to bed!’ Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
Around 1969, my family had just bought a house in a lower-middle-class white neighborhood two blocks away from school. Then, all of a sudden, all the white people left the neighborhood and the school. Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
We have to give people dreams; we have to give people hope. In terms of government, in terms of society, that’s our goal. You can’t have a group of people that don’t dream, that see themselves as dead or in jail. Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
We were raised in the black community not to trust the police, and I believe, in the white community, they were raised to actually be a policeman. Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
There’s a lot going on in the Bassett-Vance household, a lot of balls in the air. Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
Eventually, you know the rhythm of your character, of the set of the piece. It takes less energy for you to hit that point, and then everything resonates. But initially, it takes a tremendous amount of energy. You just hope it’s gonna be okay and you don’t forget your lines and those cameras. Courtney B. Vance Read Quote
