Quotes About Opportunity

Do you want to be an actor, or do you want to be a celebrity? I made that decision when I went to Juilliard. I wanted to be an actor. So, if I get the opportunity to be an actor and do some cool, fun and interesting projects, I'm going to do that.

I grew up in the projects in Brooklyn, and I consider myself lucky and blessed to be where I am - just working.

Working on new projects gives you the opportunity to learn and absorb new things.

You can't manufacture a career as an actor because you aren't in control of what projects come to you, unless you are No. 1, two, three or four in the world.

I've just always loved really good projects. The things that draw me into a new project have very little to do with genre and have more to do with the characters I'll be playing, the people I'll get to work with and things like that.

My M.O. as far as choosing projects is I really try not to work. I try to not do the scripts that are offered me. I'm in this wonderful position to be able to do that.

Basketball is what got me out of the projects. It got my momma the house she never had, the car she never had. Nobody is going to get the best of me. You might score more points than me, but you're going to know you were in a dogfight.

We have disappointments all the time in the business, and I've lost way more projects than I've booked. I've learned from every opportunity and have been chosen for some really great projects!

When good things come in, my agent calls or sends me the script. But I allow them to sort through the offers so that I am not just sitting and reading everything because honestly, sometimes the scripts that appeal to me are projects that are not good projects, but I just really like the script or the characters.

I'm not interested in going to casting after casting, trying to get into that game. So there is a part of me that knows that I will do more characters, even if I have to produce those projects myself to get those projects out there. If the right characters come along, I would love to. I would jump at the chance.

I love the opportunity to do lots of different kinds of projects - independent films and big studio epics as well. I'd love to be able to do a mixture.

What I believe will make my acting career successful going forward is hard work. I like to challenge myself. Then it's the people I meet and choosing the projects I want to work on correctly. There's a lot of characters I can play.

I love the idea that I have the power to look for the projects I can put myself into, but I'm still at that level of just being happy to have a job.

Certain projects find you at the right time.

I consider projects very deeply, but there's always a point in your life where there's a bit of randomity.

There are many projects that I would have loved to be a part of, but I was not high-profile enough, or I had the wrong look. That's just something you have to expect.

I like what I do, and a lot of these projects have really interesting material and interesting people to work with. I feel lucky.

Should 50 per cent of Telefilm's projects be helmed, produced, or written by women? I think so.

For me, I actively look for projects that showcase people of color.

Since 'School of Rock' opened, for the first time in my career, ever, really, I've had a lot of projects offered to me. It's extraordinary. Normally, I've initiated them all myself.

In order for a person of color to get on a cover of a magazine, they have to do something prolific - winning an Oscar, being the first billionaire, you know, or whatever. I think it's becoming more natural that somebody can get on the cover of a magazine just because they're an amazing person. That's what it should be.

I've never actually been to prom.

We had to decide: Do we want to do Saturday Night or go to our Senior Prom? We opted for Saturday Night Live.

I actually didn't get to go to my prom. I left high school when I was 16 to join 'NSYNC. I felt that was something I always missed out on, and all my friends got to go and would tell me about it.