John Singleton
John Singleton

I really took filmmaking very seriously... It was an honor and then a crutch also, because at a young age, I was like, I guess I'm a serious filmmaker. I never set out to be a serious filmmaker. I just set out to make movies.

John Singleton
John Singleton

At heart, I'm a dude from South Central Los Angeles. We roll the way we roll because we had survival tactics; we had to learn how to adapt. That's just me.

John Singleton
John Singleton

We have these rules, the 'hero rules.' Like, a hero doesn't slouch. A hero walks proudly with his head up. A hero walks with a purpose. A hero's always a gentleman.

John Singleton
John Singleton

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.

John Singleton
John Singleton

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.

John Singleton
John Singleton

My formative years would be in South Central Los Angeles. It was a really volatile environment, but, I always say, when you're living in the hood, you don't live this life where you're crying every day, downtrodden every day.

John Singleton
John Singleton

When I was in my 20s, I was out of control in terms of what I would do to defend my vision. There are black film-makers and storytellers who take a back seat to just get it done. It's good, but it's not right there. It's been compromised.

John Singleton
John Singleton

There's this guy: his name, Sedik Ali. He's like the African Kurosawa. You know how Kurosawa does stuff from feudal Japan? This guy does the feudal system of Africa.

John Singleton
John Singleton

Because, if I'm honest, people in the white world might be appalled, but in the black world, they're making myths out of me. And I know that ain't the life.

John Singleton
John Singleton

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

John Singleton
John Singleton

I've become more relaxed. When I was younger, I had more erratic, nervous tension when I was working.

John Singleton
John Singleton

I try to keep focused on the things that really make me happy and just do those same things.

John Singleton
John Singleton

Now, I'm so relaxed that I have to make myself nervous. I feel better when I'm second and third guessing myself over everything. I play with the mice in my head, all the time.

John Singleton
John Singleton

Crunk music is the music of the South, it pervades every club and nightclub not only in America, but all over the world.

John Singleton
John Singleton

I've been nominated for Academy Awards, I know what I'm doing.

John Singleton
John Singleton

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.

John Singleton
John Singleton

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

John Singleton
John Singleton

I make notes about things I see in films that really affect me, like the ending of 'Jules and Jim.' I think about how I can utilize things in my work. And I have a team of people who keep me down to earth.

John Singleton
John Singleton

I'm not a Beverly Hills dude.

John Singleton
John Singleton

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.