"My parents moved to Los Angeles when I was really young, but I spent every summer with my grandparents, and I'd stay with my grandfather on the farm in Longview. He was retired from the railroad, and he had a small farm with some cows and some pigs. I remember part of my youth was feeding hogs and plowing fields and stuff, so that's a part of me"
About this Quote
The specifics do the heavy lifting. Los Angeles signals proximity to the industry, aspiration, performance. Longview - the grandfather, the railroad, the small farm - signals labor, routine, and an older America built on work you can’t fake. A retired railroad man running cows and pigs reads like postwar practicality: dignity without spectacle. By anchoring himself in that world, Whitaker claims an authenticity that Hollywood biography often tries to manufacture.
Subtextually, he’s explaining a craft, not just a childhood. Acting depends on observation, restraint, and inhabiting someone else’s tempo. Farm work trains patience and attentiveness; you learn to read animals, weather, silence. “So that’s a part of me” lands as a thesis about identity: not a costume he puts on for interviews, but a formative texture he carries into roles. It’s also a subtle class statement - a reminder that his sensitivity isn’t divorced from grit, and that art can come from people who’ve shoveled, lifted, and endured.
Quote Details
| Topic | Grandparents |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Whitaker, Forest. (2026, January 17). My parents moved to Los Angeles when I was really young, but I spent every summer with my grandparents, and I'd stay with my grandfather on the farm in Longview. He was retired from the railroad, and he had a small farm with some cows and some pigs. I remember part of my youth was feeding hogs and plowing fields and stuff, so that's a part of me. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-parents-moved-to-los-angeles-when-i-was-really-67654/
Chicago Style
Whitaker, Forest. "My parents moved to Los Angeles when I was really young, but I spent every summer with my grandparents, and I'd stay with my grandfather on the farm in Longview. He was retired from the railroad, and he had a small farm with some cows and some pigs. I remember part of my youth was feeding hogs and plowing fields and stuff, so that's a part of me." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-parents-moved-to-los-angeles-when-i-was-really-67654/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My parents moved to Los Angeles when I was really young, but I spent every summer with my grandparents, and I'd stay with my grandfather on the farm in Longview. He was retired from the railroad, and he had a small farm with some cows and some pigs. I remember part of my youth was feeding hogs and plowing fields and stuff, so that's a part of me." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-parents-moved-to-los-angeles-when-i-was-really-67654/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
