John Cho

“The goal of Asians in the arts is plurality of roles. I've always been hindered by me over-thinking what is a stereotype and what isn't.”

“I feel like there's this need that the Asian-American community has to feel like people. It's something that Asians in Asia do not understand about us.”

“Asians narratively in shows are insignificant. They're the cop or the waitress or whatever it is. You see them in the background.”

“When I started acting... the community was largely Chinese-American or Japanese-American, so even then I felt like a minority in the minority.”

“The more roles there are, the more actors there are.”

“I've had an unusual career in that I've never had a big break, but the rent always seemed to get paid.”

“I don't feel comfortable as an insider.”

“It's hard in America as a writer of color, an actor of color, not to get caught up in race and culture. But you're also supposed to be able to write characters and scenes in a way where it's just a matter of fact, a component.”

“I've played roles that aren't expected of an Asian.”

“When I first started acting in college, at Cal, the thing that I loved about acting was not being onstage but going into rehearsals. The thing, as I look back on it now, that I was most attracted to, was that I felt like I'd found my family. It was just a bunch of loonies.”

“When I saw 'My Fair Lady,' I was surprised at how mean and misogynistic Henry was. Maybe that's why it's dropping out of public consciousness.”

“The message of 'Star Trek,' if there is one, seems to be that we should try to live up to the very best that we're capable of.”

“With acting, you are a small part of the creative process, and sometimes it is hard to feel like you are making an impact.”

“My wife and I were worried, when we had our firstborn, about how he was going to think of himself in a mostly white neighborhood. Particularly Asian men, I feel, we suffer more than Asian women, because we're told we're not worth anything in general.”

“I don't like when an Asian-American actor says, 'I'm entering this business to change Hollywood.' It feels like the wrong reason - I would prefer they entered the business for artistic reasons, because they need to do it.”

“I would love to do Shakespeare, either onstage or on film.”

“I just didn't see anyone on TV who looked like me, and then I saw George Takei being cool and piloting the spaceship on television.”

“There is a real Harold Lee.”

“I like that guy Matthew Perry a lot.”

“You know, I always root for the older athlete. I root for the second album. I root for solo careers after the rock star breaks the band apart.”