Eugenio Derbez

“If you're always waiting for a producer to hire you... your chances are really, really small. I've been knocking on doors and asking for a job for many years, and my career really changed when I decided to create my own material.”

“Instead of being with my family, I was spending a lot of time trying to start all over again, from zero, in another country. I couldn't take it anymore, so I went back to Mexico and said, 'I'm gonna do my own stuff.' So, I did my movie that I was trying to do for many, many years, called 'Instructions Not Included.'”

“When I started coming to the U.S., they were offering me only the typical stereotypical roles: the druggard, the criminal, the gang member, or in the best-case scenario, the gardener or the cook. I was fed up with all these roles that were always the same. And I promised I would try to change the image of Latinos in Hollywood.”

“I think I'm ready to bring my style to a comedic movie as a director.”

“My mom was a soap opera queen in Mexico and Latin America. I started acting because of her.”

“'Instructions Not Included' is proving that there is a huge Latin market that needs a special project. They love seeing their own people; they want to see themselves onscreen. In my case, I know them pretty well. I know what they laugh at. I think it's going to open a lot of doors, this movie.”

“It's not easy to direct in another language, especially comedy.”

“Yes, everyone thought I was crazy when I moved to the U.S. after having had a very successful career in Mexico. It was like Adam Sandler turning his back on Hollywood and going to China to start all over.”

“Who doesn't want to have a yacht? But I would prefer to invest my money in something else. But I love them. I just wouldn't buy one unless I had a lot, a lot of money.”

“I probably have a hidden issue, because before 'La Misma Luna' in 2007, I hated working with kids. But after that, I learned so much about how to handle a kid that I liked it. And then came 'Instructions Not Included,' and it was like, 'OK, now I think I've got it.' Life just kept bringing me projects with kids.”

“The first time I came here to the U.S. to start a career, it was in 2002 or 2003. Since then, it's been so, so hard.”

“I have way more freedom in Los Angeles and in the U.S. But it's funny because when I have a meeting with producers or people from the industry, we go to a restaurant to meet someone, and nobody knows me. But all of the sudden, the entire kitchen comes out, and they start taking pictures with me, or at valet parking.”

“I would always direct my own stuff in Mexico.”

“I wanted to be a dramatic actor. I never realized I was funny until I was 20-something.”

“Goldie Hawn was my movie-star crush when I was young.”

“I love breaking stereotypes.”

“Executives in Hollywood are missing a lot because they don't want to watch other cultures.”

“To try to crack into Hollywood, it's a dream come true.”

“Drama is more universal. We all cry about the same stuff. But comedy is very specific: It depends on where you were born, how old you are, your social-economic status. It's very complicated to make people laugh.”

“I've learned that when I'm directing, I hate when people are always questioning everything and trying to give me directions.”