John Singleton’s Career Turned Out a Little Different Than We All Might Have Thought

John Singleton, the youngest-ever Academy Award Best Director nominee, to Roger Ebert in 1993: "In some ways, I think `Boyz N the Hood' helped get Bush out of office. Film is a powerful medium; it has a power to shape and change minds. It has a power to make people think in a way in which they wouldn't have thought otherwise, and you have to be responsible when you're dealing with it. ... I had to do something that would smooth things over; I had to think of my career in terms of the rhythm of it. But now I can do that. Boom! Do something that's gonna shake people up."

John Singleton, director of "Abduction," on the red carpet in 2011: "I'm a competitive guy. I've worked with a lot of new talent, and I wanted to show what I could do with Taylor [Lautner]," Singleton [said] "I wanted to show there's a certain edge to him. It's not just about how he looks. It's about him being able to convey emotions in a character and be funny and be very physical in the action scenes. That's what truly makes a star."

John Singleton: 'Abduction' will 'definitely' have a sequel [24 Frames]
John Singleton Recites The Poetry of Cinema [Chicago Sun-Times]