Lee Daniels
Lee Daniels
Lee Louis Daniels is an American film and television producer and director. He produced Monster's Ball and directed Precious, which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director; the film won two of the awards. In 2012, Daniels directed The Butler, a historical fiction drama featuring an ensemble cast portraying unique events on the 20th century presidents of the United States at the White House. Daniels is also a co-creator, executive producer and director of the television series Empire that...
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth24 December 1959
CityPhiladelphia, PA
Trust is hard to get from actors, and for me to give to actors.
I want to go to places that are unexpected of me, because people really think they have me pegged. I want to do something different, like maybe do a space movie or a musical.
I don't think anyone likes anything of mine. At the end of the day, I love it, but just because I love it... I happen to love broccoli, not a lot of people like broccoli. I always question if somebody else is going to love my films.
As a film director and as film actors, you get used to a certain rhythm that's slow. But with TV, it's hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. It's a different pace. So, it's about adjusting to the pace. It's not meant for everybody.
My dream is to make a Superman hero that's gay.
I've dodged all sorts of bullets in Hollywood to get my movies made. I'm tough.
I embrace the criticism, because ultimately (it means) the masses have seen it [my movie]. I embrace it for my father's story, for my mother's story, for my auntie, for my grandmother, who all got their teeth knocked out so I could be [where I am].
I felt hopeful for the future because Obama is here. But nothing has changed. It's time for young kids to get serious again and really think about what their four fathers were like. As African-Americans, we are resilient, we are some bad mf-ers, and we are survivors. So get those i-pods out of their ears and become heroes again like the Freedom Riders.
I don't want to sell my soul to Hollywood - to just make run-of-the-mill stuff.
I was always intrigued with European cinema, and hated most American cinema. I didn't like the one, two, three - boom! style, with a neat and tidy ending. That was never my scene.
Every African-American I know has two faces. There's the face that we have for ourselves and the face we put on for white America for the places we have to get to.