I think redemption is about righting a wrong, and in that pursuit it's about trying. You can stumble, you can make mistakes, but it's about trying to do the right thing.

I'm pretty sure that wasn't Oscar's first time getting harassed or held-up by authorities. And over time you start to feel some type of way when you get pulled over. "Oh, I gotta go through this. Again."

The fact that there aren't an abundance of African-American males that are getting lead roles [and] that are getting roles that have prominence on the big screen. [It's] the same thing from behind the camera; maybe even worse. Coming up, when you're black and you want to direct somebody says, "Oh, you're Spike Lee" or "You're John Singleton."

I'm a tropical weather cruiser. I like surfing, you know. I like being on the beach.

You see somebody like me, as young as I was at the time, driving around the inner city of Newark, and to them [police] it doesn't make sense. I've been illegally searched [and had] my car illegally searched. [I've] been handcuffed for no reason. You get in enough of those situations.

I really want to have a really, really strong, one-sided opinion on something, and be connected to it and tell that story. Until I find that thing or that topic or whatever it is, I don't want to direct.

Do as much homework as you can. Learn everybody's job and don't just settle.