Rick Famuyiwa

“These actors who were in 'Dope' are the actors I want to continue to collaborate and make films with from here on out.”

“Maybe I'm more suited to making small independent films.”

“I've been a fan of Wendell Pierce for a very long time. He was in one of my early movies and he brings such a level of heart and humanity to his roles.”

“There's a generation that doesn't care if Tom Cruise is at the top of the movie. They want authenticity.”

“It was titled 'Confirmation' very purposefully. I wanted the film to be about that process - about how Judge Thomas and Anita Hill were thrown into a situation that was difficult for anyone to navigate, no matter what the truth was. It's hard to know what the truth is.”

“Societies are being interconnected and we have to adjust to that fact.”

“As filmmakers and as actors, you have to find truth.”

“I think Black cinema is thought of in small terms. That's where most of the problems come from. When there's a film that has success, like in the '90s with the crime hood films; when one of them does well, it becomes the replication, or there's a romantic comedy that breaks out, it becomes a singular way of looking at it.”

“Inglewood is a microcosm of Los Angeles. It's a city by the airport. It's the first city when you're coming into L.A., and the last city when you leave.”

“There are so many instances where kids who have talent and intellect have to navigate the world of low expectations and resources. We have to nurture those gifts more.”

“In many ways the film business is behind what's going on culturally. We are a world that is becoming more diverse and there's no going back.”

“In high school, I was into a lot of different stuff, and I did ride skateboards.”

“What should be driving the conversation is: What's the story? What's the movie about? Is it a compelling story? And if it is, then you make it regardless of the color of the people behind or in front of the camera.”

“I was a political science major before I transferred into film school.”

“Everything about who I am, negative and positive, is what shaped me.”

“There are constant challenges about what's 'mainstream.' These kids in 'Dope' are as mainstream as the kids in 'Superbad' or 'The Breakfast Club.'”

“It could be why it's getting harder and harder to get people into the cinemas and multiplexes, because we're just seeing a world that doesn't reflect reality.”

“Now being 41 and looking back on my career... It became natural for me to revisit Inglewood and to revisit the coming-of-age movie, but not wanting it to feel like a period piece completely about nostalgia but wanting it to feel like something that was relevant today and also forward-looking.”

“I don't know, my parents were pretty open about a lot of things, especially my mom. And any kind of little crazy thing I was into, she was very supportive of. You know, whether it was BMX bike racing or being in the Boy Scouts or surfing or anything else, she always seemed to sort of support it.”

“Nineties hip-hop in particular really shaped what became the common pop cultural language that we all speak.”