Delroy Lindo

"I'm very proud of my roles. I enjoy the ability to touch millions of people and, in some way, connect with them in ways that I cannot connect with them in my normal, everyday life." - On his films. Show less «

(On Gone in 60 Seconds) Filming 20 minutes of a car chase took two months of work. And I did a lot of it myself because I went to stunt-driving school. It was great. They were teaching me how to do wheelies, 360s and 180s. Show less «

(2011 quote on making Soul of the Game) One of my favorites! But let me say I'm hugely proud of that film, hugely proud. And I feel really, really... oh God. To use a hackneyed term-no, I'm not going to say "blessed," but I was blessed. It was just a fantastic opportunity, and I was really, really thrilled to get the opportunity to play Satchel Paige. The way it happened was the way these things always happen. I got a call from my representatives saying "There's a script, they're interested in you for this." At the time actually, there was word that some people from HBO were really interested in me for the part, some people thought I might be too old. I vaguely remember that. The script was sent to me, I read it, by the time it was sent to me, it was called Baseball In Black And White, and during the time we were shooting, that's what the title was. It was wonderful. I read the script and just fell in love with it. It was beautifully written, beautifully. There was a scene in the beginning which unfortunately we did not get to shoot which was just really, really rich. It was a scene between my character, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson. I said "Of course I want to do this." I had actually been offered something else at the same time that we had been negotiating, preliminarily negotiating, but Kevin Sullivan came to New York. Kevin and I met and we talked for some while. I remember being in Central Park, throwing the baseball, and I don't play baseball, I hadn't played baseball, but I threw as best as I could. At the end of the meeting, he said, "Yeah, I'd really like you to do this," and I said, "I'd love to do this, but the one thing, playing Satchel Paige, I want to be sure that I'm gonna have lots of time to get with a pitcher and work on that aspect." He assured me that it could happen, and that is what happened. Very shortly after having met Kevin, I got the official offer, and I was thrilled to do it. It was a difficult shoot because I would have loved to have had more time. But I'm really proud of it. What I could tell you that the biggest challenge for me going into that project, that I was aware of, is that Satchel Paige, based on everything that I read, and I read a lot of material about him, he was someone that used humor as a defense, as his weapon, as his coping mechanism. Humor was a great part of Satchel Paige's life, and that was very challenging. I was afraid of that. Humor doesn't function that way in my life personally. I think it's a brilliant tool to have, not only to have a sense of humor, but to be able to use humor to help one navigate life, and I tend not to be that type of person. I wish I were. But having said all that, I was aware of that about Satchel Paige, and I wanted very much to portray that element. A lightness of touch, a lightness of being, a humorous way of responding to things, even when one is feeling devastated. That was the aspect of his personality that I wanted very much to nail down. Show less «

(2011 quote on landing Get Shorty) I think they couldn't work it out with Sam [Jackson]. I don't think I'm misremembering that. Sam and John [Travolta] had had that huge success on Pulp Fiction, and I think they tried to cast Sam in that part, but they couldn't work it out. They came to me. I guess, arguably, one could say that was my first all-out major studio venture. I didn't think of it in those kinds of terms; I think I'm thinking of it in those kinds of terms in retrospect. For me at the time, if I'm remembering, it was another really interesting job. I was thrilled to be there-great part. I remember reading the script, and thinking, "Damn, this is really well-written." When I read Elmore Leonard's book, Bo Catlett is actually written as a light-skinned black man. Thankfully, that was not a concern to the producers, and they hired me. I had a really, really good time, and the script was so well-written. I used the book as source material-just a well-constructed piece of storytelling. I was really happy to be there, and very much in my element. Show less «

(2011 quote on The Simpsons) When I did The Simpsons, that got me instant cred with my nieces and nephews in Philly. That is when I became aware of the power of The Simpsons. They were like "Oh wow, Uncle Delroy did The Simpsons, oh wow, man." I was not on that Simpsons phenomenon. I had never really watched it, and it was not on my radar, so to say. After I did that voiceover, I was very aware of the power of The Simpsons, because in certain quarters, I got instant credibility. So there you go. Show less «