I don't really consider myself a black man in Hollywood. I live i... by Jeffrey Wright

I don't really consider myself a black man in Hollywood. I live in Brooklyn... and on purpose.

Jeffrey Wright

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Categorized in : Man Myself Live Black

This is a ton of bricks off the backs of our members, our membership is thankful our international leadership got a good contract.

I, Jeffrey Wright, the actor, actually signed on to the 'Westworld' Delos website. My profile came back as a Libertine, which is probably reasonably accurate.

actor back website profile

Out of the blue, I received this offer and invitation to be a part of this movie, 'The Good Dinosaur.' I turned to my Pixar experts, my kids, and asked them what this could all be about. Of course, they flipped out, and it was pretty obvious from their reaction that I was going to do this.

invitation pretty good blue

Collaboration is a multilane highway, going in all directions. If there isn't reciprocity, it fails, and it's unsatisfying.

fails highway going collaboration

My first-ever job was when I was 14 or 15 in Washington, D.C., a job that I got through Marion Barry's summer-youth-employment program. It was working in the locker room of a public swimming pool, deep inside Anacostia in Southeast D.C., about five to 10 minutes from my house.

deep job swimming house

I don't mind that I am not necessarily a household name, because I think my characters have outshined me. That was by design. And I'm not wanting for appreciation.

i-am me mind appreciation

At the most base level, what an actor represents to the film industry is an investment. Depending on the risk profile, an investor needs 1,000 reasons to commit and one reason not to. That means you've got to do more work on your own, and that the machine is not going to necessarily do the blocking for you. The machine rarely accepted my code.

your own you work

I started surfing when I was working on 'The Hunger Games,' out on the north shore of Oahu, so about four years ago. I used to skateboard as a kid, kind of religiously, until I broke my leg riding in a pool when I was about 14 and I couldn't play football that fall.

riding pool football fall

We really don't discover fully what 'Westworld' is for this first season, until we get there. The first 10 episodes are the journey. The colors become brighter, the vistas become clearer, and the history is more understood with each step we take along the way.

step colors journey history

What I've appreciated about the 'Bond' films is there's always been a subtle social relevance to them. They've always commented on the times.

bond about always appreciated

I used to say that 'happy' was like 'lucky,' kind of imaginary. But now that I'm married and have children, I find that happiness is a real space.

space happy happiness children

From an animation perspective, it doesn't get better than Pixar. You're working so much in the blind because the huge circle of collaborators that's required to pull off a film like this means that you are just one small arc in that large circle. The level of trust that you have to give into is significant.

better you trust perspective

What I've learned in my career as an actor is that you're only as good as your collaborators. The process is many things, but it is wholly collaborative, particularly with something like 'Westworld,' which is a 10-episode-per-season gig, and we're just now on the 7th episode.

your good you process