Film is not an amazing medium to relay interiority. I think literature is much better for that.

Of course there are times when I think, 'I'd be better out of this.'

I think it's really important to remind, reinforce people that their lives have value, you know? That their lives have worth.

I have friends who I consider my peers, who have done amazing work, particularly in the film and television space, who came up as independent artists and who have been - to be brutally honest - much more prolific than I was able to be.

I think everybody can identify, you know, with this sort of struggle to decide for yourself who you are, you know, and what your place in life is.

It's interesting because I think class is a heavy, heavy part of 'Moonlight,' and I think, in a certain way, through the sum of all these parts, it's become a commentary on the black experience in America.