80 Quotes by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

I remember when I first came to America, nobody had a clue what a black Englishman was. I was either South African or Australian to them.

As an actor, you just like to be able to play as much range. I just want to be invisible. I want to be able to be perceived as an artist as opposed to 'a black actor': that's the joy.

Those films that really speak to the primal fear that we, as human beings, have about the unknown have always intrigued me. That's the really scary thing, not the slasher, macabre movies. It's the ones that deal with the inner fear: the unknown realms and the mysticisms that are scary.

I grew up watching 'Rambo' and 'Rocky' and all of those movies, so you have a surreal moment, even as an actor, when you're in front of these guys, whether it's DeNiro or Stallone. You have a moment like, 'Geez, that's Sylvester Stallone,' and then you have to snap out of it and get back in the pocket of the character.

I don't really look at genre. I mean, sometimes you might be playing heavies a lot, and you're like, 'Hey, it'd be nice to do a romantic comedy.'

I don't really discriminate with my art. To me, it's my art, and it's to be expressed through whichever medium is there, whether it's treading the boards in the theater, on the small-screen TV, or on the large screen. I love theater, and it's definitely something I would love to do.

The practice of pumping up before the scene, especially if you've got your shirt off, most actors will do that.

I'm from Europe, England, and I actually lived in Italy.