Lee Daniels Quotes

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Lee Daniels

Profession : Actor

Birth : December 24, 1959

I went from off-off Broadway. I would direct plays in Baldwin Hills. Almost Tyler Perry-like, really trying to express myself in that and not really knowing how to, knowing acting in story, but not really knowing how to technically hold a camera.

Lee Daniels

I don't work with fear, and I don't work with actors that are fearful.

Lee Daniels

To come into my world, I've got some M&Ms and some potato chips, and I'm asking you to move furniture. We're making a movie. We're making it like we're putting on a play.

Lee Daniels

I want to go to places that are unexpected of me because people really think they have me pegged.

Lee Daniels

I went back-to-back from 'Paperboy' to 'Butler,' literally with no break.

Lee Daniels

There are servers, and there are people that are served. There's something contradictory about that in a democracy, certainly.

Lee Daniels

I come from a family of domestics. I think most African-Americans of my age do. They were trusted by their bosses. I have met so many white people that spent more time with their nannies than they have with their own parents.

Lee Daniels

I don't know what gives me more pleasure: watching my story unfold or going in and watching a room full of black people talking for me and writing words for black people.

Lee Daniels

I hate white people writing for black people; it's so offensive. So we go out and look specifically for African-American voices.

Lee Daniels

I have a partner, Danny Strong; he's an incredible writer and, really, my backbone. So when we don't see eye to eye, it's painful.

Lee Daniels

I have a very clear vision, and I come from film, where director is God, so if there's a clash, it's painful.

Lee Daniels

I believe strongly that characters are five-dimensional, and they're complicated, and life is complicated, and people are complicated.

Lee Daniels

I like to show the grey area in all my characters.

Lee Daniels

I think it's very important that we don't sound like militants. Often what we do is we give a comment, and because it comes across with passion, then we're 'angry black people.'

Lee Daniels

My partner, Danny Strong, came to me with this idea of telling a story about my life and merging that with music and the hip-hop world. He wrote 'The Butler' and originally wanted to do 'Empire' also as a movie.

Lee Daniels

As a film director and as film actors, you get used to a certain rhythm that's slow. But with TV, it's hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. It's a different pace.

Lee Daniels

I'm not really vegan. I'm vegan-ish. I have a piece of lamb every now and then.

Lee Daniels

America is fickle. You never know what they're going to go for.

Lee Daniels

I've met Shonda Rhimes a few times, and certainly she's an inspiration for me in television.

Lee Daniels

I'm in a great place because I trust people behind the camera as I go off, and I still go back to my day job and do film.

Lee Daniels