Mike colter quotes

I've always wanted to be on a show that's well respected and had critical acclaim and that people like to watch, and at the same time find something that for me as an actor is interesting and challenging.

When I find material that gives me a natural yet unique character point of view and has well - developed characters throughout the script, it makes the hairs on my arm stand up.

I'll get a nice little break, after doing Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Whether I'm in [his show], I don't know, but there's The Defenders.

When you're the lead and on most of the call sheets, some people have expectations of you and whether you like it or not, you kind of set the tone.

The writers are very good about misdirection and changeups, and that's what's great about it. We always think we know what's going to happen and then they throw a curveball that you don't see coming.

I rarely feel like I'm in chaos, but when I am, I usually [retreat] and try to find the eye of the storm; if I'm still and listen and don't engage, maybe the chaos will subside.

Never take anything at face value. Dare to question and seek the truth.

Luke Cage is using his open hand instead of a closed fist. It's a little disrespectful but it's very effective. Some people call it a pimp slap, we call it smack-fu. He's doing you a favour by hitting you with an open hand. It hurts, it renders you unconscious but you live.

That's how it works in Westerns: the hero is minding his own business and trying to make a living, but he does something, the villain finds out about it and they have to have a showdown. So it's kind of a Western set to hip hop music.

When you're casting, you get a page or two - just enough to do the scene. Now that you're in the world, you get the whole script.

What I enjoyed about being in the world of Jessica Jones, as Luke Cage, is that I wasn't front and center because it was Jessica Jones' story, but it allowed me to find the character from a different perspective.

Things don't happen that fast in real life.

You see a lot of Baptist churches in Harlem, you see a lot of the same kind of cuisine, the soul food - there's a lot of places that remind you of its southern roots.

So often, when you're playing the lead in your own show, it is all about you.

Love, for me, is always wanting the best for the other person even if it's not what's best for you.

It's hard to articulate what everybody else is feeling.

Harlem is really a melting pot for a lot of different people.

I think when people talk about art imitating life, you're in real time.

I don't have a routine, but I have used meditation to just decompress and focus.

Sometimes when you do things right, there's no results.

I worked at a group home for a survival job years ago, and kids who have a rough home life have always tugged at my heart-strings. I also care a lot about animal cruelty.

I'm pretty relaxed on what people should be able to do as long as they're not hurting anybody else.

The primary thing that I enjoy about Luke Cage is that he has a morality about him but it's conflicted. He's never sure what the right move is, but he at least contemplates it. He's a not a rash character. It's that thoughtfulness that I really identify with.

Auditions are great, and you definitely want to continue to make progress as an actor, you want to continue to see some advancement in your career. But when you get out there, you don't realize how many auditions you have to go on before you actually get work.

Sometimes you meet someone at an inopportune moment and it doesn't work out, but then you see them again five years later and you're in different places and it's a better time.

As an actor, I need to get excited about something that I can actually relate to.

As a male, I thought the female voice was so strong, unique, real and accessible to most females. In some way, shape or form, they felt like they could relate to it, on some level, because they went through some form of unspeakable horror like what Kilgrave did to Jessica [Jones]. That, in itself, is something that most people shy away from, even in shows that are on cable or in movies.

As long as I didn't have to put on the tiara and the chains and the big yellow shirt for the whole series, I was up for anything.

Never say "never" about anything, because if you do, life has a way of humbling you.

When you take the job, you never think about how many days you're going to take bullets. Sometimes you go on set and you're thinking, "Ah, a day when I don't have to get shot. This is going to be a nice day."

I respond to powerful women. I'm not intimidated by that, I like that, it's not something I shy away from, so I don't want women who are looking for me to take care of them. To me, that's a turn-off. I respond to strong, powerful, independent women.

I don't have social media so I'm kind of in a bubble, but I hear there's a lot going on.

History repeats itself over and over again, but most of us have short memories.

This show [Jessica Jones] was exploring the aftermath, and that is unique. You're sitting there going, "I know what happens. This is the aftermath." You watch her daily life and how she dealt with people, like new prospects for love or friends that were close to her, but she didn't know if she could trust them or if they were enemies.

Comic book heroes are an important part of our culture.

I don't practice yoga, but it's on my list of things to try again. I gave it a shot, but the class was too advanced for me, and I felt overwhelmed and a little embarrassed.

As an actor you just want to continue to work on things that you like. You can be in this business a long time and consistently working and just be totally artistically unfulfilled.

As an actor, you learn, every time you work.

Law enforcement has always had informants and people they've had to deal with, who walk a certain line. They're choosing between the lesser of two evils. They're befriend one person to gain access to another person, who's a bigger fish.

My family, they're not really that involved in what I do. Career-wise, they're very supportive. They're involved after the fact. I don't tell them anything usually until I'm finished filming it or mid-way through filming it.

I met some people in college and I kept cracking away until someone pointed me in the right direction.

When you look at Harlem - and I lived there almost five years - most of the people who live in Harlem are transplants. They migrate to Harlem from another place. A lot of them are from the south, so they bring those southern influences with them.

I'm actually filming all the time, and I don't have much time to do anything. I've always been that way.

Most of the people you look at in the early days of Harlem - the zoot suits, the music, the style of fashion, the vibrant colors - that's all influences from the south.

Jessica Jones is very unique, and we are all in awe of the response from the public. It seems that everyone connected with the character, and we enjoyed shooting it.

I respond to women who have their stuff together, who are in charge, who don't need men to do things for them. I want a woman to have her own thing.

I've learned over the years, when someone is complaining or wants to vent and has something they want to tell you, they don't necessarily want you to fix it.

A lot of times in life, women want to talk, but men don't want to listen, and if they do want to listen, they turn it back to themselves.

I see fans all the time. They're always very complimentary and they're always very eager to talk and to share their experiences or get a selfie. They're really, really loyal. And intense.

Dialogue is not always the best way to show emotion, to show your thought process, or to reveal yourself, as a character.

Some people get divorced, they leave the person for a couple of years, then they remarry. Relationships are very, very strange.

In real life, people end up doing things because it's convenient and it works for them. You don't get up every day regretting what you're doing.

Part of acting is always just being available emotionally and open to people.

I haven't had ice-cream in a year, although I did have a slice of pizza. People don't realise that when you're shooting a movie it's only three months to get in shape for.

As professionals, we just try to keep the jokes to a minimum, when we're in a certain situation. When we're not doing that, we're joking.

It's a long arc and a long storyline, and I think it leaves us in a great place to see how we interact again, whether that be for The Defenders, Jessica Jones Season 2, or whatever. We'll see. I don't know.

My mother wanted to be an actress. She wanted to follow her dreams and she never really got a chance to do that. I feel like I'm following her dream in a way. She's proud of me for doing what I wanted to do, but at the same time, I'm kind of taking up where she left off.

When something tragic happens in the world and I realize that, for the most part, I am powerless to stop it.

I guess it's a bit cliché, but as an actor, I really admire good writing. There are a lot of great ideas out there, but it's the execution that really makes it work.

If things are not working out, they just stop going forward.

I'm a very un-excitable person. I always take things with a grain of salt, I'm always very even-keeled, and I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I like to take a break, but at the same time, I think most actors are not very good at sitting around doing nothing because we like to work.

I try to stay incognito as much as I can. I don't go places that people would expect to see me because I'm trying to lay low.

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't have a lot of hobbies. It's not because I don't have interests, it's just that I don't have the time.

The awkward thing is the people in the room besides us. It's not us. It's just the 20 or 30 people that are around on set, who normally wouldn't be on set. That's always interesting.

We're dealing with that question now, in the media. How does the judicial system work? There's never going to be a clear-cut answer, but it's a conversation and a conflict in the community. It's not a white thing or a black thing. It's a society thing and a culture thing, and we've gotta figure it out.

We pride ourselves on all being unique shows.

Tequila is my drink. It is my favorite alcohol, my favorite liquor because, you know, it's a stimulant and not a depressant. If I go to a party and everyone's been drinking and I don't have time to really "catch up" - I'm not trying to get drunk but I want to feel good - I drink tequila.

I've never really been into doing a lot of social media, but it's a great way for people to talk amongst themselves on a large platform and to have a large conversation with people who also enjoy the same thing.