Ashton Sanders

I wasn't like the rest of the kids. I was an artist. Living in a black society, when you're raised around a bunch of boys who plays sports and chase girls, there's this perception of masculinity that's super hard to fit into. I wasn't the stereotype of that like a lot of my peers were. ”

I auditioned for 'Moonlight' without knowing anything. I went in the room, and I didn't know the lines as well as I should have. I didn't know a thing about the script. I wasn't told anything. I heard it was a low-budget film, and my agent told me to do it. I was super-ignorant to it. ”

I'd say my heart is more in independents, but sometimes these major films come along that are pretty good, you know? ”

A lot of these artists are out here don't stay true to why they started doing this in the first place. ”

It's about being true to my artistry, which I've been doing. It's super important to do smart films. ”

I want to keep doing projects that speak for people within the community and tell different types of meaningful stories. ”

I like to dress the way I like to dress. I kind of like rebelling against the social norms... I feel uncomfortable wearing just, like, regular stuff. ”

We all have to wear social masks in our daily lives to get by. ”

It's my job as an artist and as an actor to use this platform to make people learn and grow, to change their perspectives on how things are in whatever way I can. ”

It's going to sound cliche, but I started acting as an emotional outlet. ”