Edward James Olmos

Edward James Olmos (February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist.

Quotes

 * Fight against typecasting? All the time. There’s a truth in the stereotype, that’s why it becomes a stereotype but the problem starts when it’s the only thing you see. When it comes to Latinos in the US, the truth is they [Americans] know very little about us.
 * On Latino actors being typecasted in “Edward James Olmos: "I have to fight against being typecast" on Screen Daily (2017 Jul 21)


 * The stereotypical usage of any culture, any ethnicity, is based on fact or truth. The difficulty is that that’s the only fact and truth that they use. So therefore, it becomes, “Oh, everyone’s like that,” and everyone isn’t like that. Stereotypes are stereotypes. They’re just one-dimensional characterizations of what the person who’s depicted represents, and that’s the difficulty of what I learned as I moved older into the late ‘50s, early ‘60s, and I was 13, 14…
 * On stereotypes being used to judge an entire group of people in “THE LEGENDARY EDWARD JAMES OLMOS ON STAND AND DELIVER, AMERICAN ME, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA AND MORE” in Roger Ebert Interviews (2019 Oct 11)


 * We must stop using the word “race” as a cultural determinant and start using it for what it really is. It is a unifying word. There’s no two ways around it. The Caucasian people will have to accept the fact that the changes of diversity on the planet are constant, and that we propagate ourselves at a higher rate. So as far as I’m concerned, people, come to terms with it. You want to really understand the future? You’re going to have to understand that there’s only one race, and that’s the human race. Period.
 * On the term “race”in “THE LEGENDARY EDWARD JAMES OLMOS ON STAND AND DELIVER, AMERICAN ME, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA AND MORE” in Roger Ebert Interviews (2019 Oct 11)


 * My life has been a privilege. I come from a very humble family. No one in my family was an artist or worked in film…I’m not special. I completely understand that what I did, anyone can do it … I learned to do the things I love to do when I didn’t want to do them.
 * On his journey as an actor in “Edward James Olmos Reflects on the Legacy of ‘Stand and Deliver,’ Three Decades Later” in Remezcla (2019 May 30)