John Singleton

In 'Boyz N the Hood,' every female character was three-dimensional.

What's interesting when you see 'Black Panther' is you realize it couldn't have been directed by anybody else but Ryan Coogler. It's a great adventure movie, and it works on all those different levels as entertainment, but it has this kind of cultural through-line that is so specific that it makes it universal.

The freshest moments in my films have always been with unknown actors.

One of the biggest regrets of my whole career was turning down an offer to direct on the first season of 'The Wire.' That would have been so perfect for me.

I met Tupac through Queen Latifah in New York at this party that we were at, at a place downtown called Big City Diner.

All the kids looked up to my father because he was known to be that dude who knocks people out.

I like to be an idea person. I like to pull different people together and find new talent.

The cinema saved me from being a delinquent. I could have been, but I didn't get caught up. I never was going to get arrested or anything.

As a storyteller, when you see somebody who is the character you envisioned, you feel this energy in the room.

There's hardly any precedent for a guy like me to have the career that I've had. Because I grew up the way I grew up, I'm an in-your-face kind of guy. I developed that as a defense mechanism to survive in the streets. I do that in Hollywood in the service of my passion.

It's cool for me because I'm a director, but I'm also a teacher. I'm a lover of cinema, and I love working with people who are hungry and have the energy to really do better work.

I've got passion, and for people who don't, I make them see how trite their lives are.