Gugu Mbatha-Raw

“One of my favourite places is Hampstead Heath. When I first moved to London, I lived in Highgate, and I would walk on the Heath at the weekends and go to the Kenwood House coffee shop.”

“I love to go hiking. There's a lot of concrete in L.A., and I come from the Shires, so it's important for me to get back in touch with nature.”

“I was so thrilled to be in 'Doctor Who.' It's such a wonderful experience, and the fan base that that show has never fails to surprise me.”

“You've got to find a way to relate to people. I just did an improvised episode for Joe Swanberg's new Netflix show, 'Easy,' and it was a huge learning curve for me and taught me so much about fear and courage. But when you're present in the moment, the audience, it's incomparable.”

“You have to be able to appreciate who you are.”

“In my own life, when I'm not working, I do wear a lot of black. I think I do feel very comfortable in black.”

“For me, I try and be authentic in my choices and follow my instincts, and I think it's a valuable message for women in today's society to learn to love yourself.”

“Corsets were a challenge in 'Belle;' fake nails tripped me up in 'Blackbird.' Guess I'm not a mani type of girl!”

“I enjoy classics, but classics are classics for a reason. I prefer to focus on the future. There are a lot of new stories to be heard.”

“I played Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz.' That was my first role on stage.”

“I see L.A. as a workplace rather than somewhere to live. If I don't get out, I go crazy. If you have a little success, people treat you differently, so it's good to keep a healthy perspective. It's acting, not rocket science.”

“I spent a chunk of time in New Orleans doing the movie 'Free State Of Jones,' getting to work with Matthew McConaughey, and also did 'Concussion,' where I got to work with Will Smith.”

“Everyone says to you, 'if you play Ophelia, you'll end up crazy,' but we're all somewhere on the spectrum of mental health, and I think that if you approach it that way it's not such an intimidating issue.”

“From the age of four, I loved ballet and tap. I was in the school band, the choir, and all my school plays.”

“Sometimes you can't fight change, because you're a part of it, and I feel that in the context of these films that are happening now, there is a kind of change coming in terms of how history is represented on film, and the African, and the African-American and British African experience.”

“Different fragrances promote different emotions, and I find that fragrance gets me in the frame of mind for that person.”

“I'm a very improvisational cook. I sort of like to make things up as I go along. I'm quite creative in the kitchen.”

“I was born in the '80s, so I don't really remember it very strongly, but the music is so iconic. And so those artists - Madonna, Prince, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston - you still hear those songs all the time. And there's such a distinctive style - the clothes, the shoulder pads, the big hair, the perm.”

“If you're an artist, it's great to have a knowledge of the business and be educated about that, but you've got to keep the balance right between business and artistry; otherwise, you get cynical.”

“I feel like my work has been incredibly diverse.”