Our Diverse 100: Meet Marcus Stokes, an architecture student turned visual effects pro

Marcus Stokes is responsible for the visual effects of nearly 20 projects from 2003’s “The Matrix Reloaded” and “Peter Pan” to  2010’s “Undocumented” and 2015’s “The Wedding Ringer.” This Q&A is part of a special series examining diversity in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Read more profiles here.

What was your first job in the industry?

I studied architecture at UC Berkeley and one semester I got a job as an intern at Industrial Light & Magic. After the internship I got hired and I was there for about 4 1/2 years and sort of worked my way up the different job departments: animator, compositor and then into a more supervisory role. Then I went off to do the “Matrix” sequels as a computer graphics supervisor.

As you were coming up in the business, was there anyone in the industry that looked like you and made you think this could be a career for you?

I became a member of the Directors Guild around 2003. That was the first time I’d really seen people like LeVar Burton and Paris Barclay and John Singleton at different events and think, "Hey, he looks like me!"

What I was most surprised about is that there were people who looked like me who were willing to help. LeVar invited me to come and shadow him while he was directing an episode of “Charmed.” Tim Story [who executive produced Stokes’ sci-fi short film “The Signal”] has been a big, big influence. There are certain people in the industry that have been successful that make a concerted effort to bring people up behind them.

What was your reaction to this year’s repeat of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and the academy’s response?

It’s a big problem and they’re doing whatever they can to tackle it. But it’s tough. I think we will see changes over the next one to five years but I don’t think that that will persist.

At the end of the day, I don’t focus on it that much. I’m just trying to be as exceptional as I can be. I’ve always been like, "You do the best work you can and eventually that opportunity will show up." So rather than getting mired in the pragmatics of these controversies, I just try to keep going out and doing good work: What can I shoot next and who can I get to be in it? It’s less about the industry as a whole and more about: What can I do today?

What’s your favorite Oscar memory?

I was a big fan of the [song] acceptance speech for “Once.” Glen Hansard was like, “We made this movie on a couple of Sony Handycams in Ireland and we never thought we’d be here.” It just illustrates the accessibility of the academy. That touched me. I enjoyed the moments where it’s like: Anybody can play. If you’ve got some talent and you tell a good story, anybody can get here.

READ MORE: Here are 100 people in Hollywood who could help fix the academy’s diversity problem