Quotes About Recognition

I always look back to awards shows and think about being a kid watching them.

I have been in the industry for many years now, but people still come up to me and say, 'Sir, you're such a good actor. We loved watching you in that movie. What's your name?' While any other actor might get offended, I don't mind this at all.

It was a great feeling to be honored by my hometown where it all started. Watching my father get a proclamation for his hard work as well was incredible.

If I see a movie on TV that I'm in, I usually will watch it for that reason: It's like I'm watching another person.

I was watching the Nina Simone documentary alone in my room, and I said out loud to myself, 'Why do we not know that this woman is beauty? She is beauty! Why did no one tell me this growing up? Why was her name not next to 'beauty' in the dictionary?'

Me and my mom were just watching the charts like, 'Why isn't it stopping?' And now I've got a platinum disc in my bedroom.

People always come up to me now and say, 'Watchmen' is the best superhero movie ever made.' I'm always saying 'That's super cool. That's nice of you to say.' But it happens now, more and more and more than it did when it first came out.

People in Ethiopia, the Sudan, etc., don't know Audrey Hepburn, but they recognize the name UNICEF. When they see UNICEF, their faces light up, because they know that something is happening. In the Sudan, for example, they call a water pump 'UNICEF.'

'Smoke On The Water' was ignored by everybody to begin with. We only did it in the shows because it was a filler track from 'Machine Head.' But then, one radio station picked up on it, and Warner Bros. edited it down to about three and a half minutes. It then started getting played by lots of different radio stations.

When you're on top and you lead the parade, everyone's there throwing lilies and lilac water on your head. But when those parades have gone by and there's a storm in your heart, there are very few people that are going to sit there and listen to you bemoan life.

It's such a human condition, whether you're a great track star or a great knitting person or you paint watercolors - someone knows who you are.

Growing up in Waterloo, the Governor General's Award wasn't something I even thought to wish for.

Well, any time you're faced with fame on that level, it's - it can be somewhat unnerving because you're never taught how to manage it and how to deal with it. So you're sort of left out there on your own, trying to navigate those waters for yourself.

Call me Shaky, not Michael. I've been Shaky for so long it would be like calling Muddy Waters McKinley, wouldn't it?

I've always done drama, but I suppose 'Tyrannosaur' was a bit of a watershed moment for me. It was like when Kathy Burke did 'Nil By Mouth' - suddenly, people were saying, 'Oh, she can do that, too.'

For me, I'm just trying to be the best at what I do. I'll wave an Asian American flag if I get that opportunity. I'm not hiding or trying to discredit my background or anything, I just haven't had the opportunity.

It's easy to not feel misplaced if this tidal wave of appreciation is coming your way.

I was a kid, and I would watch standup comics do the 'Tonight Show,' and if Johnny Carson liked you, he'd wave you over to the desk; that pretty much meant you were about to be the most successful comedian in the country for the next few years.

All of a sudden, one day, you're this boxer that everybody like, or you're this guy that people pass on the highway and wave at. The next day, you're this guy that everybody want to touch - be in touch with you. Then you think that this is the answer to all things.

I loved the Kennedy Center Honors because you just sit there, smile, wave, and cry.

I know what it's like to be famous. It's good money and it's great fun. A real kick in the pants. People wave at you and smile at you. You get great tables in restaurants. They send you gifts - beautiful clothes and cars.

The thing is, most of these courts in San Bernardino know who I am and they've researched me. In fact, a couple of judges have asked me how my back's doing, when my next launch is, so they know who I am. Some of the bailiffs wave hi to me because they follow me on Facebook and see my launch. People know who I am.

R, Rod Wave, that comes from one of my homeboys gave me that name 'cause I used to be scared to upload my music. I just used to make music and just to listen to it myself. So one day, he just uploaded it and gave me my name. I came back to school, everybody was like, 'Rod Wave!' I ain't know what the hell they was talkin' 'bout.

I don't know if Nashville will ever be ousted as the Music City. But I also think that here, over the last few years, Georgia has definitely kind of risen to the top as far as the crop of young artists coming out of this area that are kind of making waves, you know?