My school was pretty much all African Americans, but it was still a little tough to be in because I didn’t have a lot of money. And when I came back to my neighborhood, it was tough to fit in there, too, because I was wearing Catholic school clothes, and I had two parents, which was rare. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
I have real good parents. I have two brothers, and we got good educations. My parents didn’t have a whole lot of money, but they spent the money they had on private school for us, Catholic school. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
I’ve directed things that other people have written before, and I’ve written things and given them to other directors. So I’m very versatile in terms of that, and I enjoy all of it. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
To recognize yourself in a character onscreen, and to connect with them, you gotta recognize their flaws; they gotta feel like a real person. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
In 2009, I went to Cannes with a short film in the Kodak emerging program at the American Pavilion. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
I used to write in school a lot; I always liked it and used to write on my own, comic books, come up with alternate story lines to the stuff I watched and read, a lot of books and TV, episodes of ‘Twilight Zone.’ I didn’t think about it. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
Rocky’ is an incredibly human story, and ‘Creed’ is very inspired by the Rocky lore, but there’s something kind of profound in letting it all go. This is the first time I’m co-writing, and I’m learning as I go. This process is so different from ‘Fruitvale’; hopefully it gets made. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
I grew up with white friends, Asian friends – Vietnamese, Chinese, Pacific Islanders. I had Hispanic friends, not just Mexican friends, but Guatemalan friends, Honduran friends, and we knew the difference, you know? Ryan Coogler Read Quote
Something impacts me emotionally, art is a kind of outlet, and I figure it’s the same for a lot of artists. The way my mind deals with things is cinematic. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
We look at the African-American community, for a long time those of us who be considered strong – black men – for whatever reason, haven’t done a good job of taking care of the weak. And we were doing things that render taking care of our youth and taking care of our women and our families impossible, when our lives are taken. Ryan Coogler Read Quote
