Joe Morton

“Film and television is just a different technique in terms of how to approach the camera but basically the job is the same; but what you learn as a craft in theater, you can then learn to translate that into any mediums.”

“With my background, I came out of the theater.”

“I came into the industry at a time when there weren't a lot of choices to what you could do.”

“My whole career has been a landmark. So I don't think about the pressure too much. I just go out and do, because I believe in it.”

“One, I had never worked with John Woo before and I wanted to see what that was like, and two, Ben Affleck is a friend, so it would be fun to work with him again.”

“If you've been on top of the food chain in the Armed Forces, that's who you are. You're used to dealing with your life in a particular way.”

“Perhaps, despite my objections, the success of films like: 'The Help,' 'Django,' 'The Butler,' or '12 Years a Slave,' will further persuade Hollywood to widen its view and edit its erroneous perception of what a commercial black film can look like.”

“When I started off many years ago, I made a determination that there were certain roles I didn't want to play.”

“I don't live on the West Coast, so when I come out to work, I rent a house.”

“I would love to play the villain, but again, it's sort of what happens in this industry.”

“If you live a good life, that seems to be what really matters. If there is something afterwards, terrific. If not, you haven't lost anything.”

“What you find with really good directors is that they kind of leave you alone. They've hired you because they know the kind of work you do and the sense of how you'd approach it. So usually, they'll just stand back and maybe give you a nudge once in a while in terms of something specific they might want in a particular scene.”

“We live in a world where racism hasn't changed at all. It's that old thing of, you know, the more things change, the more things remain the same.”

“What's lovely about 'Eureka' is that it's a sci-fi show, but it's not monsters from outer space; it's not craziness from outer space. It's just about this community of people and what they do. These geniuses have sometimes done wonderful things and sometimes created global warming. It has this wonderful left-of-center sense of humor.”

“I think it talks about that there needs to be some proactive attack against drugs infiltrating our culture.”

“'Black film,' unless it's lucky enough or creative enough, or timely enough to build a life of its own, hangs subjacent to 'white film' on Hollywood's financial score board... aided and abetted by the supposition that so-called black film has no foreign market.”

“My father was in the military; he was a captain. His service was to quote-unquote integrate the Armed Forces overseas.”

“You don't have the opportunity to win an Emmy unless you're given the opportunity to play certain kinds of roles.”

“If there's no craft there, then once the looks go, there goes your career.”

“I don't watch a lot of television, which sounds strange for someone who works in TV.”