Aldis Hodge

I came out of the womb drawing on everything, I used to draw on my mother's ...
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I don't understand actors who complain when they get work. 'I'm working too much. I've got ...
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I hear all the time from our audience about how it's nice to see a positive ...
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For me personally, the way I've been trained, just through life experience - the harder something ...
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I think that my humble beginnings were very deliberate, and I'm grateful for them because I'm ...
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As far as my contribution to this industry, I want to be like Dean Devlin, John Rogers, and Chris Downey. I want to give people jobs and put them on great shows. I want to create careers for people.

A lot of people are afraid of the idea of enslavement, and that's because it's tied to so much shame and guilt... That is the big elephant in the room, but a part of why we're afraid to attack that subject matter is because of the way we've been taught about it.

Everybody wants somebody to look up to that looks like them so they can truly believe in that reality for themselves.

For some reason, I think that I'm not doing enough work. People are like, 'You're on a series right now,' but I'm always like, 'Yeah, but I can do more!'

For me personally, the way I've been trained, just through life experience - the harder something is, the harder you have to work for it, the more worthwhile it is, and you just have to know that going in.

I came out of the womb drawing on everything, I used to draw on my mother's white furniture and her white walls with her red lipstick and my pencils. Little did she know that would later materialize into me doing what I do now - I'm a painter as well and a micromechanical engineer.

I can literally count on one hand how many slave stories have gotten notoriety over the past few years.

I don't believe in breaks. Not yet. I'm too young.

I don't understand actors who complain when they get work. 'I'm working too much. I've got to get up too early ...' Isn't this the point? There's somebody right now who's bussing tables who would love your problems.

I hear all the time from our audience about how it's nice to see a positive African-American role model for the younger kids out there that are watching.

I remember, growing up as a kid, history class was very washed-over. They didn't really get into the gritty bits of slavery. It's a very, very small section in the history books. It's not something they really touch on directly with American curriculums.

I think that my humble beginnings were very deliberate, and I'm grateful for them because I'm not sure I would see my achievements the same way if they were handed to me. I'm not sure my work ethic would be the same.

I was always really geeky about design and buildings. Always into architecture as a kid.

It's crazy: the first black man to actually step foot in America came as a free man, as an explorer, with the Spaniards. That's something for me - as a black American, it gives me a little bit of pride because we were free and respected somewhere else before slavery became what it was.

I'm constantly looking for ways to learn and elevate your craft, patience for yourself, and patience for this business. It's not a fair business. You may be great, but it may take years for someone to notice what you're capable of because of politics.

It's crazy how intelligent kids can be at a very young age and how they know what they know.

New Orleans is New Orleans. It's a great city and fun and great food. It's one of those cities that when you are working hard hours like we work, you have to do as much as possible to stay out of trouble. Not much of a problem for me, but in New Orleans, trouble tries so much to find you.

My approach is always the same. I try to be as honest as possible. Find the real honesty and humanity in the character because even a fictional character is supposed to feel real. And my job is to find that reality and bring it to the screen.

My mom told us that we should have good shoes, a good suit, and a watch, so I was running around at age 10 looking like a little old man. But somehow I grew to understand that a watch is a representation of myself, of my culture, taste, awareness and aesthetic.

Sometimes there's something that a writer doesn't see or a producer doesn't see when he's looking at a shot.

We have far more options for black Americans to tell stories outside of slavery, but whenever it comes to slavery, it's an uncomfortable subject. Why? Because it's the most unresolved subject in American history.

When I was 18, I began attending college for art and design, and I designed all sorts of things from furniture to industrial designs and even watches.