Quotes by Lena Waithe - Page 2

I actually don't like saying 'lead character,' which is an interesting thing. If you say there's a lead, then there has to be someone to follow.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Interesting Thing
Lead Character
Copy Quote
I just really want be proud of the work I'm doing, whether it's something I've written, produced, or am starring in. I just want to be proud of it.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Produced
Copy Quote
I sort of knew very early on that I wanted to be a writer. Even in high school, I was a big movie buff, very much into TV shows, and would critique them.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Big Movie
Critique
School
Tv Shows
Tvs
Buff
Copy Quote
I'm proud to carry that torch and be like, 'I'm gay! I'm black! Hang your dreams on me. Hang your hopes on me. I'll carry them to the best of my ability.'
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Your Dreams
Dreams Best Your
Carry
Hang
Hopes
Torch
Copy Quote
There's been a lot of successful shows like 'This Is Us,' 'Atlanta,' and 'Insecure,' so, I feel like whenever something works, Hollywood wants to copy it.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Atlanta
Insecure
Copy
Copy Quote
Every black man in Chicago walks through the world differently, and I think what young black boys do is observe, and that's what gives them their road map.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Walks
Man World Black
Map
Observe
Road Map
Copy Quote
One of my favorites is 'Parks and Recreation.' Great show; awesome writing; beautiful, diverse cast. They also have a very diverse writer's room, which I love.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Diverse
Parks
Recreation
Love Great Beautiful
Awesome
Favorites
Great Show
Copy Quote
I always love where I can plug a black woman in anywhere, and when that comes up, I don't say, 'Oh that has to be a black woman.' I say, 'Why not a black woman?'
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Why Not
Love Always Where
Anywhere
Plug
Copy Quote
I'm not in the business of making us look clean, but I don't want us to look like monsters either. I think there is a little bit of hero and villain in all of us.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Hero
Thinking
Villain
Copy Quote
It took me forever to leave Chicago. I went to Columbia College because I wasn't ready to leave! My professors had to kick me in the pants to move to Los Angeles.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Columbia
Los Angeles
Pants
Professors
Angeles
Los
Copy Quote
I was such a fan of Aziz. I watched 'Parks and Rec' like every other self-respecting hipster and loved his character so much and just thought he was so interesting.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Parks
Copy Quote
The '80s really were - talk about no rules. People just did whatever they wanted; they could look however they wanted. There was just a lot of bigness and brightness.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Brightness
Look People Talk
Rules
Look People Rules
However
No Rules
Copy Quote
My family still lives in Chicago: my mother, my sister, my nephew, my family is there. So even though I am not living there, I feel very close to it, and I visit very often.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Sister
Chicago
Nephew
Close
Though
Visit
Copy Quote
I think that for the most part, black people specifically have sort of been used as props in TV shows as a way to move story along or as a way to make things more entertaining.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Entertaining
Props
Tv Shows
Black People Way
Specifically
Copy Quote
There's so many other talented women of color who write funny things every day, and I want them to be recognized, I want them to have a seat at the table because we're out here.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Funny Things
Seat
Talented
Out Here
Recognized
Copy Quote
What's 'Atlanta' about? Technically, it's about a couple guys who are friends, but to me, 'Atlanta' is about black lives. I'm getting a real look at what black life means in Atlanta.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Atlanta
Life Me Look
Technically
Copy Quote
I wrote 'Twenties' back in 2009. I always wanted to tell a story where a queer black woman was the protagonist, and I'm so grateful to TBS for giving me a platform to tell this story.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Twenties
Platform
Protagonist
Queer
Copy Quote
I love a web series. But to me, it does the girl in Detroit a disservice who just watches television. It does a disservice to the girl on the south side of Chicago who doesn't go online.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Chicago
Detroit
Disservice
Online
Series
Watches
Love Me Who
South Side
Web
Copy Quote
I watched a ton of TV because I was raised by a single mom and spent a lot of time with my grandmother. Like most grandparents do, she would spend hours and hours in front of the TV box.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Hours
Raised
Single
Single Mom
Tv
Box
Watched
Front
Spend
Hours And Hours
Spent
Ton
Copy Quote
I love basketball! When I'm flying, and I have on sweats, a hat, and sneakers, people always assume that I'm a high school kid going to an away game. And I always say no, I'm a fan of the game.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Basketball
Flying
Sneakers
Love Game People
Love Always Game
Assume
Hat
Sweats
Copy Quote
My brand is good storytelling. I really want [my company] Hillman Grad Productions to be associated with great stories, interesting characters; things that are three-dimensional and feel honest.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Character
Interesting
Want
Copy Quote
I've never been a person that has had fear of, like, 'Oh, I don't want to be the poster child for all black lesbian women.' I don't know. I want to be someone in the public eye that they can be proud of.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Public Eye
Lesbian
Poster
Poster Child
Copy Quote
I hope that people will say that 'she told the truth, she told her truth, she wasn't afraid to live her truth, and she wasn't afraid to live her truth out loud.' That's what I want my legacy to look like.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Truth
Legacy
Loud
Afraid
Say
Look
Her
She
Copy Quote
I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but for me, it's about pushing to the point where I can be Mark Walhberg, Ryan Murphy, or Shonda Rhimes. I want to be at that table in terms of bringing new voices in.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Accomplished
Mark
Murphy
Pushing
Where Me Feel
Bringing
Me New Feel
Ryan
Table
Voices
Copy Quote
I had a lot of great bosses - I worked for Gina Prince-Bythewood for two years, I worked for Ava Duvernay as a PA on her first narrative film, and I worked with Mara Brock Akil, so a lot of wonderful role models.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Models
Narrative
Role Models
Bosses
Pa
Copy Quote
Today, you'll have a following for a film before it even hits theaters. We can reach out and touch our audience in ways that they couldn't. So it's about getting eyes, getting interest, and getting people involved.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Eye
People
Today
Copy Quote
Talk to any black person in my age group, and they'll say 'A Different World' is why they went to college. The show literally changed my life, and it boggles my mind that it doesn't get the kind of love it deserves.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Life Love Age
Age Group
Deserves
Different World
Copy Quote
I really want the sense of black people being interconnected: If you black and you from Chicago, there's a connective tissue we all have. Even if you're not blood related, that doesn't mean I can't look out for you.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Black
Mean
People
Copy Quote
Being a black lesbian myself, I roll my eyes a little bit when I see black lesbian characters on shows where it's purely there for decoration. You can just hear it in the writers room... 'What if we make her a lesbian?'
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Decoration
What If
Lesbian
Purely
Copy Quote
I do think it's important for black writers to show that we too can make it into the mainstream. Growing up, I didn't just watch The Cosby Show, I watched Growing Pains and Family Ties too. We can tell those stories too.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Growing Up
Pain
Thinking
Copy Quote
When people think of the South Side of Chicago, they don't think about where I'm from. It was sort of a pocket: this idyllic community of black people who took care of each other, knew each other, spent time with each other.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Idyllic
Time Community Black
Pocket
South Side
Copy Quote
Wearing one hoop earring and playing with the androgyny - that's who I am. That's what I like to do. And I feel the world should see that. I'm not going to put a shield up or be more feminine to make people feel comfortable.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Androgyny
Feminine
World I Am People
Earring
Hoop
Shield
Copy Quote
I've known I was gay since I was young, I think. And I mean young - like, young - like 5 or 6. I think most gay people or queer people know there's something different about them very early, but I didn't know what to call it.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Queer
Copy Quote
I am always searching for something different or something fresh, something hasn't been done. But the truth is, at the end of the day, we're all sort of retelling something. We're doing a version of something that's already been done.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Version
Searching
Copy Quote
I definitely have been very mindful of what kind of leader and creator I want to be. A lot of that has to with looking at the writers that you work with. They're all like your children. They all need love, but different versions of it.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Creator
Versions
Love Work Your
Mindful
Copy Quote
As a black woman in the industry, you really do have to hold your head higher, stick your chest out, be kind and polite and generous even when you don't want to be sometimes. I learned that and, also, just to never take no for an answer.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Be Kind
Generous
Chest
Never Take
Copy Quote
Somebody could look at me and go, 'She's dressed black,' or 'She's behaving in the stereotypical way of a black lesbian.' But this is how I feel most comfortable. This is my authentic self. I want the freedom to be that regardless of how someone interprets it.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Authentic Self
Authentic
Behaving
Dressed
Lesbian
Regardless
Stereotypical
Copy Quote
I actually really liked 'The Help.' I know that may not be a popular thing, but I thought it was a solid film. It wasn't 'Roots.' It wasn't 'The Color Purple.' But you couldn't pick it apart in terms of storytelling, and I thought the characters were well written.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Purple
Roots
Storytelling
Solid
Copy Quote
I'm not asking for there to be all black writer's rooms or all Asian writer's rooms, or all white - I want them all to be diverse. When it's diverse, you're going to have a completely different dynamic. Everybody feels othered. Nobody feels like they've got the upper hand.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Diverse
Feels
Rooms
Upper Hand
White
Writer
Nobody
Dynamic
Hand
Upper
Copy Quote
For me, it's about making art that's not good but phenomenal. James Baldwin didn't want to just stay above the fray. Prince didn't think, 'I wonder what the industry is gonna think about 'Purple Rain.'' It's just, is this honest? Is this real? Does this move me? The rest is icing.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Icing
Phenomenal
Purple
Rain
Art Good Me
James
Copy Quote
When you're not as accessible, you get in a tent and get in your own head, and you start doing things that are a little out of touch. I think we've seen it happen with certain artists... people can't touch them; they're not touching people. They're only touching people in their circle.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Circle
Your Start People
Tent
Copy Quote
Most writers stick to what they know. The black experience is our experience, so it's not that challenging for us. That's why sometimes you'll see writers that start off telling black stories, but later branch out into other material. People say they "sell out." No, they evolve as writers.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Black
Challenges
People
Copy Quote
If you think you aren't valid for whatever reason, let my existence and the way the world embraces my existence tell you that you are valid. You deserve to look, live, and walk through the world however you see fit. That's why I find it extremely important to be so out, so black, and so myself.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Deserve
Myself Walk World
Embraces
Myself Walk Look
Valid
Copy Quote
I think once 'Empire' hit, there was a lot of bad black TV that followed, because we work in the business of hit-seekers and copycats, so they're like, 'Oh this is a show about black people; this is about music, OK let's do a version of that.' And, of course, it doesn't work because it's not organic.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Work Business Music
Version
Empire
Followed
Organic
Copy Quote
The truth is, for me, when I was a young black girl who knew I was different, was watching TV, I would always be staring at the TV set looking for myself, and I didn't see me. And when you don't see yourself, you start to think that you don't matter, or you start to think that something is wrong with you.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Staring
Watching Tv
Tv Set
Copy Quote
I loved 'The Wizard Of Oz.' It was, like, you know how some kids, they're crying, and they put on - people put on 'Frozen' to get them to chill and just be quiet? For my family, it was 'The Wizard Of Oz.' They would literally tell babysitters, if she gets - like, if she starts misbehaving or she starts acting crazy, just put 'The Wizard Of Oz' on.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Chill
Frozen
Crying
Wizard
Just Be
Oz
Wizard Of Oz
Copy Quote
I think the stakes are always high when you're an artist of color - to get things right, to get things perfect and make everybody happy. But I'm not concerned with politicians and what they think. And I'm not always going to succeed. I'll have missteps, but I hope that people will be patient with the show and us and know that our intentions are good.
Lena Waithe / Screenwriter
Artist
People
Thinking
Copy Quote

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Lena Waithe Quotes - Page 2

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