Yes, I Did Say That!

A look at who’s saying what in entertainment

“I was told that’s going to be hard because people don’t want to cast nonwhite people as bad guys.”

KUMAIL NANJIANI The actor, to Esquire UK, on diversity in Hollywood and how he wants to play a wider range of characters, including villains.

“Their instruction was: Don’t play the game. I ignored them.”

PEDRO PASCAL The Last of Us star, to Wired, on playing the fan-beloved video game as he prepared to portray protagonist Joel on the HBO series, despite the studio’s recommendation he refrain from diving into the source material.

“It is my belief that working together more in-person will benefit the Company’s creativity, culture and our employees’ careers.”

BOB IGER The returning Disney CEO, in a memo, delivering the news that staffers will soon be required to return to the office four days a week.

“Whatever that choice was, it hurt my feelings, because we literally created Dreamgirls.”

SHERYL LEE RALPH The Emmy-winning actress, to Essence, on not being included in the film adaptation despite originating the role of Deena Jones on Broadway.

“This year promises to be an extremely challenging negotiating environment— one of the most difficult and complex we have faced in many years.”

JON AVNET, RUSSELL HOLLANDER The DGA negotiations chair and national executive director, respectively, in a statement to members, as the guild prepares to begin 2023 contract negotiations with studios and streamers.

“So much of acting is almost an exploitation of your own empathy.”

JENNIFER LAWRENCE The Causeway actress, to W magazine, on visiting service members at a Veterans Affairs hospital to play an injured vet in the film — an experience that came with “a lot of gratitude and humbling.”

“I fully accept that writing a book is feeding the beast anyway.”

PRINCE HARRY The British royal, to Good Morning America, on the release of his memoir, Spare, which he says he wrote to protect his family and “correct [mistruths by] writing something — the truth — in one place.”

“This is so fucked-up. She’s literally begging her to stop.”

EMILY RATAJKOWSKI The model, on TikTok, commenting on Ellen DeGeneres’ treatment of Taylor Swift in a resurfaced video interview in which DeGeneres presents photos and asks Swift to ID men she’s dated in the photos.