Quotes from Daniel Kaluuya

I think diverse stories are just stories. I don't think 'diverse' is an add-on package. Things that are not diverse are weird because that's not accurate.

Really, I have no idea how I'm perceived in the industry.

I wrote my first play when I was nine. It was performed at Hampstead Theatre.

I did a play, back in the day, called 'Sucker Punch,' and it meant so much for me. I was 21. And I went, 'I just want to do work like that.' Stuff I believe in. And when I have compromised, I've never really felt good about it.

When I need a reality check, I call my mum.

I hope people listen to black people more. You'd be surprised how little people listen to black people when it comes to racial issues. It's weird.

The beauty of any artwork is that it becomes the person that's watching it: What do you take out of it?

I think the 'sunken place' - that term is what I hear when I'm just casually living my life. People say it around me. Not because they're around me; they're saying it because it articulated a state of mind. Lil Wayne's rapped about it.

Being young, working class, and black, everything you do is policed. If someone hits you and you hit back, you are aggressive. If you cry, you are weak. You are kind of always pretending to be something.

I know what it means to be stopped by police. I've been stopped by police a lot.

What you want to do is make people talk, start a conversation.

Having something that makes money changes everything. I'm from England, and it's very much about credibility there. And yeah, it is about that. But the money can change things. And so you understand it's a business.

Whenever I'm in a film that's from a perspective that is dominant within western culture... I'm always trying to prove myself. When it's from a black perspective, I don't have to - they get it.

'The Fades' is its own world. If you try and link it to some religion, you have people going, 'Oh, that's not right,' with their Bible open. Let's just chuck some imagination at it.

A lot of black men have problems being emotionally vulnerable because of the boundaries and parameters that have been put onto them by society.

'A Prophet' is one of my favorite films of all time.

I didn't take writing seriously at first - I didn't think I could do it. When I did, I fell in love with it. But writing is very lonely.

Some black women hug me and walk away. A lot of black men talk about dating white women and how they've been there, too. People open up about their racial experiences. I feel like I'm a walking therapy session. It's quite intense. But it means a lot to people.

My experience growing up in London and growing up in a working class background is that when people are down and out, that's when they're probably the funniest. They have to be. That's what they do to cope, to find joy, 'cause they don't feel the joy inside. Or they use humor to keep people out.

In the real world, there's probably nothing more horrifying than racism. Living racism is a horrifying experience. And then, having to normalize it and internalize it.

I just like playing guys, normal dudes. That's the stuff that I really enjoy watching: when it feels grounded.

I like three-dimensional characters - it's just more interesting when you get on set.

'Skins' was like our uni. I'm tight with everyone from 'Skins' because we had that special experience together.

I find it hard to watch a lot of the kind of things I'm doing before doing it. I don't think it's helpful for me. It makes me too aware.