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Courtney B. Vance Quotes

Powerful Courtney B. Vance for Daily Growth

When actors have the opportunity to play a larger-than-life icon - my wife did it with Tina Turner, and Jamie Foxx did it with Ray Charles - you have to make a decision how you go in. What do you start with? Where do you begin?

- Courtney B. Vance

Play, Icon, Charles, Turner

The life of an editor is not a glamorous one. You're a fixer; you make things better.

- Courtney B. Vance

Better, Editor, Things, Fixer

It goes back in the black community that the police are not your friends. That's an old, old, deep understanding that we have, that it's going to take a lot to undo that in our minds.

- Courtney B. Vance

Deep, Goes, Going, Undo

When I got out of Yale Drama School, I was completely broke.

- Courtney B. Vance

School, Drama, Broke, Yale

I remember I was up for the role of Jim in 'Huck Finn,' and because I went to Harvard and Yale, they didn't think I would be able to play a slave. I said, 'Oh, please.' I had to go in there and prove to them that I wasn't too intelligent to play a slave.

- Courtney B. Vance

Play, I Remember, Role, Yale

I think if you just hang in there long enough and keep doing what you know is your sweet spot, I think the world eventually catches up to you.

- Courtney B. Vance

Doing, Think, Hang, Hang In There

Around 1969, my family had just bought a house in a lower-middle-class white neighborhood two blocks away from school. Then, all of a sudden, all the white people left the neighborhood and the school.

- Courtney B. Vance

Away, Bought, Blocks, Neighborhood

When I was a senior in high school, I did an internship with a law firm. And it was very clear that I did not have what it took to do that kind of work.

- Courtney B. Vance

Law, Very, Took, Law Firm

We were raised in the black community not to trust the police, and I believe, in the white community, they were raised to actually be a policeman.

- Courtney B. Vance

Trust, Black, Raised, Policeman

I was a huge O. J. Simpson fan.

- Courtney B. Vance

Fan, Huge, Simpson

Eventually, you know the rhythm of your character, of the set of the piece. It takes less energy for you to hit that point, and then everything resonates. But initially, it takes a tremendous amount of energy. You just hope it's gonna be okay and you don't forget your lines and those cameras.

- Courtney B. Vance

Resonates, Your, Eventually, Tremendous Amount

It's one of the roles of a lifetime to be able to play someone like Mr. Cochran who was so influential. People knew about his work in regard to police brutality. He was very much a staple in the community - someone who, if there was trouble, people knew, 'Go get Johnnie Cochran.'

- Courtney B. Vance

Play, Very, Staple, Brutality

From the outside, there's a lot of glitz. They see you on the red carpet, but they don't see what it takes to get there.

- Courtney B. Vance

Red, See, Lot, Red Carpet

I would love to take a crack at 'Long Day's Journey Into Night.'

- Courtney B. Vance

Love, Take, Would, Crack

Our parents didn't let us watch a lot of television growing up. We had Disney on Sunday nights, and at 8:30, they were like, 'Turn it off! Go to bed!'

- Courtney B. Vance

Television, Bed, Like, Disney

There's a lot going on in the Bassett-Vance household, a lot of balls in the air.

- Courtney B. Vance

Balls, Going, Lot, Household

My parents were all about education. My mother was a librarian - she retired after 30 years - and she made sure that we were always at museums, that we went to plays.

- Courtney B. Vance

Education, Always, Sure, Retired

Wes Anderson is a perfectionist, so you have to just be ready to try it this way, try it this way, try it that way, and then try it this way. And then, once you think you've got it all and it's done, then you're going to be called back in two or three months so you can try it that way and try it this way. You've got to give him all of it.

- Courtney B. Vance

Two, Back, Got, Perfectionist

I've done a lot of Shakespeare as a young man; I was involved with Shakespeare and Company.

- Courtney B. Vance

Young Man, Lot, Involved, Shakespeare

Growing up, my dad and my mom were there for my sister and I.

- Courtney B. Vance

Growing Up, Growing, Dad, Sister

I've done a lot of movies, but my favorite was 'Blind Faith.'

- Courtney B. Vance

Movies, Blind, Lot, Blind Faith

Tom Cruise is one of the most wonderful, kind, and generous men that I've ever met.

- Courtney B. Vance

Most, Ever, Tom Cruise, Generous

We have to give people dreams; we have to give people hope. In terms of government, in terms of society, that's our goal. You can't have a group of people that don't dream, that see themselves as dead or in jail.

- Courtney B. Vance

Dreams, Goal, Give, Jail

When your tummy is full - even while shooting for long hours - you feel good.

- Courtney B. Vance

Shooting, Feel, Hours, Long Hours

I love Tom Cruise. I've been a Tom Cruise fan for a long time.

- Courtney B. Vance

Love, Fan, Been, Tom

Family is funny, and so it was not an unnatural thing for me, growing up, not to know anything about my dad or about the Vance side of our family.

- Courtney B. Vance

Side, About, Dad, Unnatural

I've done a lot of theater, and I know that it's a different audience each time who doesn't know the story, and we have to tell it.

- Courtney B. Vance

Audience, Done, Tell, Each Time

I get up early, go to bed late, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. And I pray a lot.

- Courtney B. Vance

Bed, Lot, Works, Pray

I didn't know anything about acting at all. I was completely green. I got into it to meet people, to try and figure out what I wanted to do.

- Courtney B. Vance

Got, About, Figure, Green

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