Michael Jai White Quotes
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I was pretty much a child of Monty Python. I grew up loving that type of humor and even structured a lot of humor in the same fashion.
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There's people saying that 'Jackie Brown' was a blaxploitation movie, when there's nothing at all blaxploitation about it other than Pam Grier being in it.
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When you don't have much money, you get creative. There's so much money that gets wasted on big movie sets. But when you don't have much money, you improvise.
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I take every role seriously. Personally, I never look at any role as Michael White. I've done that my entire life.
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I love the '70s. I think the '70s had the best music and the best movies.
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People know Tyler Perry, and there are standards they've come to expect from him. His brand is uplifting, and it's something a lot of inner-city African-Americans can relate to.
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I did not think I had what it took to be an actor, because most of the actors that I encountered were people who were very narcissistic and I thought since I lacked narcissism to become an actor because that's what it took. It was more of a social experiment for me to walk in the shoes of other people that I found interesting.
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I'm a big fan of Steven Seagal early films. On Deadly Ground, I'll watch that anytime it comes on. That's one of the reasons I wanted to work with him. I remember that he's got a great eye for photography. There was a lot that I learned from that.
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Just by nature, I think in comedy. I think in sketches and what have you. In every drama or action movie I've been in, I have to make a concerted effort not to turn it into a comedy. Every shot, before action is called and after cut is called, I'm usually in some goofy head space. It feels natural to me.
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I feel like I missed my era, because I remember the time when black people uplifted each other and looked for the positives. I feel sorry for the people who live their lives in the negative default setting because they filter out what's good, and that's no way to live.
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The first movie I ever saw was a blaxploitation movie. It was called 'Monkey Hustle.' Like I said, just listen to the name. That's a blaxploitation movie. It had these incredible, bigger-than-life images of people who looked like I did. Or who looked like I wanted to look like.
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To me, the responsibility of an actor is to recreate humanity honestly. I never feel like an actor, I always look at it from a blue collar perspective.
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I take every role seriously. Personally, I never look at any role as Michael White. I've done that my entire life. I've never excluded myself because of color. It's never been part of the radar, when I look at anything I do. The majority of the roles that I've played have had very little to do with being black. It doesn't matter what color you are.
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I don't cook. I think they named the 'Mike'-rowave after me.
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There's all kinds of depictions of black men. You have the Denzel Washingtons and the Will Smiths; that's wonderful, but that doesn't represent everyone. There's a Russell Crowe... well, you know, there's a black Russell Crowe.
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My favorite TV couple is Edith and Archie Bunker. Because they were such individuals that I can't imagine anyone else playing them. And I think that Archie was one of the greatest characters ever on television. Even with his flaws, you loved him.
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I am my own worst critic and I am hell to pay so I just have to do everything to my utmost ability.
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In reality, there are very few villains who view themselves as villains. They just have a certain agenda at a certain time.
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In my early childhood, I was a performer by nature. I used to do puppet shows as a kid and entertain kids in classes and the teachers would make it a point that I was the entertainer of the class, but only after high school and in college that I started doing theater and acting classes, because I thought it would be fun.
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I'm a big Harrison Ford fan. I kind of pattern a lot of things after him, the way that he's an every man. He's one of the biggest action stars ever, but he transcends that term because he's such a good actor. I tend to really appreciate the stuff he's done.
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I enjoy playing real human beings after playing a lot of larger than life characters. I love playing true to life characters and that is what I intend to do for the majority of my career.
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Since I do seven different styles of martial arts, I don't foresee myself fighting the same in any two movies. I think every fighting style should fit the character that's doing the fighting.
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Directing was a natural thing for me. Actually, it was far less stressful directing than being the lead actor. I was able to have my input in all aspects of it.
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I go to gyms quite a bit, martial arts gyms, MMA gyms. I try to train with the best people, with who's who in the martial arts, just to keep myself sharp.
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It doesn't seem weird to me, at all. I'm in Baton Rouge getting ready to direct a movie for Sony, and I'm in the movie and I'm directing it. I know it's kind of this thing where some people find it difficult. I just finished a movie with Mario Van Peebles and he acted and directed as well too. I think we all feel similar that it just kind of seems natural.
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Most people say I look mean, and because I play so many tough roles and because of my size and my martial arts background, they think I am, but I'm really not.
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I feel like I'll be defined more so by ... when I get a chance to play roles where I'm the father/husband. I'd like to continue with the action stuff, but when I get to play the father/husband role, I think that will be the time where I'm playing who I really am. I look forward to playing those kind of heroic characters, the types that are usually associated with Denzel Washington.
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It's not really a preparation when you know the character that you're playing. It's not too difficult. It would be more difficult the first time, I guess.
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Recognizing absolutely depends on the public that I'm out with. If I'm in Atlanta, it's definitely Why Did I Get Married. If I'm in Seattle, it's Spawn or something like that. I'm known for a lot of different things. People will call me Bone a lot, the action aficionados.. People who like comedy, they call me Black Dynamite.
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I enjoy logic and logic puzzles. And filmmaking is one fun logic puzzle that you gotta win.
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