Wesley Trent Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, to Maryann (Long), a teacher's assistant, and Wesley Rudolph Snipes, an aircraft engineer. He grew up on the streets of the South Bronx in New York City, where he very early decided that the theater was to be his career. He attended the High School for the Performing Arts (popularized in Fame (...
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Wesley Trent Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, to Maryann (Long), a teacher's assistant, and Wesley Rudolph Snipes, an aircraft engineer. He grew up on the streets of the South Bronx in New York City, where he very early decided that the theater was to be his career. He attended the High School for the Performing Arts (popularized in Fame (1980)). But dreams of the musical theater (and maybe a few commercials) faded when his mother moved to Orlando, Florida before he could graduate from high school. But after graduation from a Florida high school he appeared in local dinner theaters and regional productions. An agent saw him in a competition and got him his first movie role with Goldie Hawn in Wildcats (1986). Athletic roles such as that gave way to tough guy roles as in New Jack City (1991), and to the action hero in Passenger 57 (1992). Wesley feels that at least with the Hollywood heavyweights he must be doing something right - Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Dennis Hopper and Sean Connery all had veto power over casting and all approved his role. Show less «
I read that Asian women were bedroom generals. Some people think that means they're great in bed, bu...Show more »
I read that Asian women were bedroom generals. Some people think that means they're great in bed, but that's not the issue. They're talking about a place where the man is at his most vulnerable, where they have the most control. They don't have to beat him over the head to mow the lawn. They can whisper it in his ear and give him a kiss on the cheek and it's no problem. That's a general. (August 1998: Jet Magazine v.94 #13 pg.58) Show less «
I never really planned on making action films. It just kind of happened. I've focused primarily on a...Show more »
I never really planned on making action films. It just kind of happened. I've focused primarily on acting and developing characters, but that has blossomed into a whole new venue I'm still young and fit enough to do. My love is still drama, though. Even if I play a straight action guy, I want to give him some depth and substance. Show less «
[on marriage] I don't understand the mandate of being together forever. The idea that you should do ...Show more »
[on marriage] I don't understand the mandate of being together forever. The idea that you should do that is wrong. It makes us slaves to a societal mandate. You can still love, but it doesn't mean you have to be tethered to the flesh. [9.14.97: Toronto Sun newspaper: Interviewed by Liz Braun] Show less «
(2010, GQ magazine) You know, when I was doing films like White Men Can't Jump (1992) and the money ...Show more »
(2010, GQ magazine) You know, when I was doing films like White Men Can't Jump (1992) and the money was hefty, I didn't get it. I didn't know what you could do with it. Like, I've never been to Hawaii. I didn't know. I had no experience in 'Let's take some money and go to Hawaii and rent a chalet and live it up and champagne and da da da.' So I didn't go anywhere, I didn't do anything. I'm not saying I didn't have fun, but I didn't have the fun you would expect for a person who for all intents and purposes hit the lottery. I didn't do all the movie-star Hollywood things. Show less «
I have a great deal of fun playing Blade. The lifestyle of it, the controlled rebelliousness, is won...Show more »
I have a great deal of fun playing Blade. The lifestyle of it, the controlled rebelliousness, is wonderful to me. And it's therapeutic, too. A role like this lets you vent. Show less «
[his advice to aspiring actors] They should be very versatile. Versatility is what's going to give t...Show more »
[his advice to aspiring actors] They should be very versatile. Versatility is what's going to give them the longevity. The world is opening up and a lot more stories and a lot more interesting scenes to portray in film. Versatility will help them. They must be able to see the world, learn the world, and bring it to their craft. Show less «
Certain roles are more challenging than others, but I haven't come across one yet that I can't tackl...Show more »
Certain roles are more challenging than others, but I haven't come across one yet that I can't tackle. Show less «
I used to do puppet theatre and also mime and musical theatre in Florida for competitions and festiv...Show more »
I used to do puppet theatre and also mime and musical theatre in Florida for competitions and festivals, which was great. I was very much involved in theatre when I was in college. It's funny because all I wanted to do when I was young was to become a dancer and then I went to acting school, where they taught me great drama! And that was it, I became an actor and the rhythm went through the door. But I can still do some dancing, some choreography in my films and that's cool. Show less «
[on why he loves the sport of boxing] I love the idea of the man to man, against one another. I like...Show more »
[on why he loves the sport of boxing] I love the idea of the man to man, against one another. I like that. I don't know why. Show less «
Lot of the scripts I've been in with other non-white actors haven't been great. Lot of non-white act...Show more »
Lot of the scripts I've been in with other non-white actors haven't been great. Lot of non-white actors ain't all that great. Show less «
