Acting Quote by Anna Deavere Smith

There are as many quality African-American actors and actresses as Caucasians, but it seems that they get a lot more opportunities.

— Columbus Short

When you're a Black actress, the box that we often get put in is so small. And me being a dark-skinned Black actress, the…

— KiKi Layne

When I was young, I dreamt of being a starlet in Hollywood. But there comes a point in every African American's life when you…

— Ruby Dee

Even when I went to America I didn't work for four years. It wasn't like I came to New York and it was the…

— Idris Elba

You want to be able to really tackle a character and make it a fully-dimensional human being who is complicated, funny, and all the…

— Viola Davis

I only became an actor to get your attention, to challenge the archetype of an African American male; I can't be anything else in…

— Isaiah Washington

I never saw a consistent through-line of employment for black actresses. I was like, 'How are they supporting themselves?'

— Khandi Alexander

I had gone to acting school for years. It was the kind of thing I had studied to do. I had worked with good…

— Betty Buckley

I always say it's hard to cast an African-American film sometimes because those kinds of actors just aren't out there.

— Rick Famuyiwa

The acting world is tough. It's competitive - and even more so for women - but actually, for black female actresses, the issue isn't…

— Michaela Coel

My very first acting job was with Alan Parker on Angela's Ashes but as a child I had written to so many other productions…

— Kerry Condon

So now I feel I'm lucky in the respect that I can sort of pick a little more carefully, which is tricky because as…

— Rachel True