What got me motivated was my dad's idea that I go to Morehouse College in Atlanta. It's an all-black, all-male school. Martin Luther King went there. The most famous person in my class was Spike Lee. And I really caught fire. I was so inspired by the people around me that I went from C's and D's to straight A's by the time I left.

Jeh Johnson

I was a pretentious teenager, so of course I had, you know, 'Raging Bull' posters and all of that. 'Raging Bull' is not a pretentious movie, but me having the poster was a pretentious action. I even grew a goatee and had a Knicks cap, because I thought I wanted to be like Spike Lee.

Adam Scott

Teen Age You

It's been a twisty-turny path for me. I was studying to be a history professor, and then I left that, went to film school, and tried to be like my heroes, like, Spike Lee and Hal Hartly.

Alan Taylor

History Art Yin

My heroes were people like Jim Jarmusch. Scorsese was my god. Spike Lee was exciting, doing exactly what we thought we were going to do: personal movies based in, and about, New York. My heroes were all participating in an economic model that was collapsing as I was finishing film school.

Alan Taylor

Movies God Art

Spike Lee is part of a retrograde movement in this country.

Amiri Baraka

Men Art UN

I did this movie with Spike Lee called 'Sucker Free City,' and that would have to be my favorite role by far. It was just so much fun to work with Spike and shoot in San Francisco.

Anthony Mackie

Work Would Wit

Everybody knows when you've got a role in a Spike Lee movie, you're gonna blow up. But I happen to be the only person who's had the lead in the two Spike Lee movies nobody saw.

Anthony Mackie

Movies You Who

I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They're amazing documentarians. If you took away all the narratives, they'd just be amazing documentarians.

Ava DuVernay

Men Amazing You

I guess I feel like it's a gift to meet those talented artists like George Lucas and Oliver Stone, Spike Lee and Richard Kelly. Even if it's a small role, it's a gift to be working that closely with them.

Bai Ling

Work Art Working

I didn't really want to be a filmmaker, growing up. Other than Spike Lee's movies, I would think, 'Where is a place for me?' We were so damn poor that it just seemed too far beyond.

Barry Jenkins

Movies Would Wing

I'm going to have to call up Spike Lee. I did a cameo for him in 'Malcolm X,' and I'm trying to get him to do my life story and the history of the Black Panther Party.

Bobby Seale

Life History Art

Ah, there's a director. Astonishing, Spike Lee. A feisty guy, but a guy who's, I think, incredibly misunderstood. I think people review his politics or his color as opposed to his filmmaking sometimes. Because he's a wonderful, wonderful filmmaker and a lover of the art.

Brian Cox

Time Politics Love

Spike Lee is one of my biggest influences. What I love about Spike, other than he's just a fun guy to hang around, is that Spike is fearless. As much as people talk about him being politically outspoken, let's not forget that he's one of the best screenwriters, ever, in addition to being a visual master.

Cheo Hodari Coker

Love Fear Writers

If there's one thing that I've learned from both Spike Lee and Tarantino, it's that you can wear your influences on your sleeve but at the same time invoke new energy and new flavor.

Cheo Hodari Coker

Time Your You

Spike Lee is obviously more stupid than anyone can be by accident.

Dick Armey

Us Up Than

I'm such a fan of actors and also enjoy watching them work so that I can help their acting in any way I can. Sometimes it walks a tricky line because you want to be entertaining to some degree. But honesty is always entertaining to me. I'm a big Woody Allen and Spike Lee fan, and I find their films to be very honest.

Dito Montiel

Work Time You

'Straight Outta Compton' is my first biopic, my first period piece, and I got a chance to kind of get out there like some of my idols, you know, like Scorsese, Spielberg, Spike Lee, the guys who came before me. You know, I'm feeling good about it.

F. Gary Gray

Good Chance You

I like movies made by Spike Lee - doing those films out of the U.S., that is really daring.

Fahadh Faasil

Movies Those T

I would still work with Mel Gibson! He's talented, man! Come on, he came up with 'Apocalypto,' man! I want to work with this guy. I've worked with Steven Seagal. He's out of his mind. I mean, I've worked with Spike Lee for four films. I've worked with some people that you can say are right there teetering between genius and madness.

Isaiah Washington

Work You Would

Spike Lee listens a lot. He's one of the quietest creative people I've ever met.

James McBride

Test Ten T

What got me motivated was my dad's idea that I go to Morehouse College in Atlanta. It's an all-black, all-male school. Martin Luther King went there. The most famous person in my class was Spike Lee. And I really caught fire. I was so inspired by the people around me that I went from C's and D's to straight A's by the time I left.

Jeh Johnson

Time Famous Art

I'm a huge Spike Lee fan. I saw 'Do The Right Thing' twice in the same night when it first came out and had long conversations with all my friends about the issues in it.

Joe Cornish

I'm connected to a Wesley Snipes, and I'm connected to Giancarlo Esposito because of the history of films that we've all been a part of with Spike Lee.

John David Washington

On a Spike Lee set, everybody seems to want to be there and is motivated to work in unison and do the best they can.

John David Washington

Spike Lee really gave us a platform, men and women of color.

John David Washington

I felt a little anxious/nervous representing a real person in a Spike Lee film.

John David Washington

Spike Lee's been doing it for a long time now. We're all standing on his shoulders.

John David Washington

So many people - DPs, writers, and the assistants that go on to be directors and writers - come from the School of Spike Lee. He's almost set up an Institution of Spike Lee.

John David Washington

Spike Lee is a master of tone, so basically, if he wants to do something, he should do it, and Imma listen.

John David Washington

Most of the great directors I've worked with - De Palma, Spike Lee - like rehearsals.

John Leguizamo

I got a call saying that George Lucas wanted to meet me. Of all the phone calls I've received - Oliver Stone wants to meet you; Spike Lee wants to meet you - that was the one call I never in a million years thought was going to happen.

John Ridley

Even now, most people call me Joy or Joe Lee or Joey. It's all fine with me. The only time I correct them is when they refer to me as Spike Lee's sister.

Joie Lee

The thing about Spike Lee... that's a deep experience to work with someone who is that intense and knows their vision that well. The character I play in 'Red Hook Summer' is super country and super loud. I suppose he is some version of myself.

Jon Batiste

I grew up with Woody Allen and early Spike Lee movies in which New York was such a specific character. The city has a certain vibe and beat which really informs your entire existence.

Jonathan Levine

David Benioff can hardly be classified as an underdog. The 2002 film adaptation of his first novel, 'The 25th Hour,' was directed by Spike Lee and starred Edward Norton.

Jonathan Miles

There's room for Spike Lee's movies; there's room for Tyler Perry's movies. There's room for classics with an all black cast. There's room for all of it as long as we don't try to make any one piece define us as a race.

Kenny Leon

I am what I am as a writer because of Norman Lear and Spike Lee. Norman Lear in particular.

Kenya Barris

One of my favorite movie characters is Mother Sister from Spike Lee's 'Do The Right Thing.' It is such a beautiful name, and she is such a beautiful character, Mother Sister, the all-seeing eye over the block.

Kevin Morby

My mum used to work in New York in Spike Lee's shop; she did the outfits for the video for P.M. Dawn's 'Set Adrift on Memory Bliss.'

King Krule

'Miracle at St. Anna.' I was challenged by Spike Lee. When he offered me the film, he looked me square in the eye and said, 'You start this film off and you end this film. I don't want a dry eye in the theatre. Can you pull that off?' He was dead serious.

Laz Alonso

I worked at Warner Bros. for a while. I was the head of the minority talent casting. It was like pre-Spike Lee and post-blaxploitation era.

Lee Daniels

Ever since the romantic comedy-drama 'She's Gotta Have It' antagonized black women and black men in 1986, Spike Lee's films have enjoyed the outrage of various groups.

Lee Siegel

I'm interested to see what happens to Spike Lee with limited resources, you know? I love Spike Lee's movies. But you know what? I kinda liked his movies when he used to scramble and fight more for them.

Mark Duplass

The first black girl book I fell in love with was most likely 'Please, Puppy, Please' by Spike Lee and Tonya Lee.

Marley Dias

Spike Lee is not the first name you would probably think about redoing 'Oldboy.'

Michael Imperioli

There's a whole network of people, particularly in New York, obviously, that came up through the Spike Lee School. I'm one of them. That's big!

Michael Imperioli

When I started at Pratt, Spike Lee had his 40 Acres and A Mule studios down the street. You'd see Rosie Perez walking around going to Mike's Coffee Shop. So it was this black bohemian.

Mickalene Thomas

Sometimes I've done small parts, like with Spike Lee, but it doesn't matter because you want to work with the director.

Monica Bellucci

I've been working with good directors - the Wachowski brothers, Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam, Mel Gibson... I love American movies, but I love European movies, too, and I want to do both.

Monica Bellucci

Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw that I was different. I learned that oftentimes, Spike directs in a sense that he might just stare at you and look at you in a telepathic way of communicating.

Omari Hardwick

I was playing a role and acting. But it was different than Spike Lee's movie. Spike can say 'cut' and move to the next scene. But I was pretending to be a white supremacist, one of them. I had to act like them to make the ruse a success.

Ron Stallworth