Cuba Gooding Jr. Biography

“I thought people wanted me to make them laugh, but I was wrong on so many levels. I try to take all my energy and take it into comedy, and that’s when I’m terrible.”

“Life has definitely changed. It's different now. I play ice hockey with some guys, and before the movie and the Oscar, maybe a couple of girlfriends of theirs would show up. But now there's a crowd of people around. And when I go into stores, there's a period when everybody comes over and congratulates me.”

(On his final interview for Jerry Maguire) “I came in there and did everything I had to do and the rest was history. So it was never like me sitting there going ‘Ah, there’s Tom!’. To me, it was like that son of a bitch was holding me back from doing what I had to do.”

“I'm not a prude. On the set, they called me 'Butt Naked'.”

“I have never made a decision based on race and never will. I am admiring of my fellow peers, black filmmakers and black actors and actresses. When Halle [Berry] and Denzel [Washington] won Oscars, I felt pride because I was black, but never did I analyse their win based on colour.”

“Hopefully, soon there will be so many Black actors that we won't have to make a big deal about Oscars. And making a big deal about it doesn't help the work. When that question came up, I was lace, 'Here we go. Let's move on.' I don't want to demean the question in any way. I'd rather focus on the positive.”

“When I’m not shooting films, I just stay at home. There’s so much activity in my life that I just enjoy the quiet time.”

“Now, I have big-money offers on three movies, and I have director approval. That's kind of scary,' he says. 'No directors have been attached. That's a lot of pressure on me.”

“Jonathan Lynn is one of the last actors Orsen Welles used in a production. It was wonderful. He's very sharp, very sharp. It's funny I've been asked how weird it was to have a Brit do a church gospel movie.”

“The Academy Awards was an amazing night. I know I kind of lost my mind a little bit. I apologize for that. That night went so fast, I can't remember what I said or what happened.“

“I wish I had stuck to the script a little more at the Oscars. I had specific people I wanted to talk about. I just didn't get to it and then the music chimed in and I kind of freaked out and then it went down again. That's when I should have started talking again!”

“There are roles I want that my agency might not want me to do because of the subject matter or whatever. Or there are roles that people won't bring to me because they don't think I'll do it. And that is a big strain because an actor wants to act.”

“Outbreak's director Wolfgang Peterson called me in and goes, 'Cuba, you remember me from that time in the elevator at the Boyz premiere and I told you that you were great in the movie? And we should work together.' That's how I got the part in Outbreak.”