What teenagers are ready to laugh at is the misery of other people.

I've been very lucky to have a family who has welcomed me and not been hung up on anything racial, almost overlooking the fact that there was a racial difference. But I can honestly say I do feel like I missed out on some lessons of what the African-American experience is like growing up.

When people get together, we are capable of the most beautiful, amazing things. But we are also capable of genocide.

With a horror movie, you're making a metaphor. You're making a personalized nightmare for the protagonist.

You never want to be the whitest-sounding black guy in a room.

For me, the social thriller is the thriller in which the fears, the horrors, and the thrills are coming from society. They're coming from the way humans interact.

As kids, there's somehow the fear that these bullies can end your life if they want to. Everything is blown up, and occasionally that kind of awful thing does happen.