Gugu Mbatha-Raw

“This is what I've always wanted to do ever since I was a little girl. Coming from dance and theater and what was accessible to me in my hometown, it was all I did after school and on the weekends. The idea of making my hobby into my job was the ultimate quest.”

“The actors that inspire me are the comedians and the people able to shape-shift into different roles and into different media.”

“I feel like I learn in every project.”

“I definitely grew up to Nina Simone and a lot of Ella Fitzgerald. And I loved Amy Winehouse. I loved that sort of soulful singer.”

“I think there are parts of myself in every character I play.”

“The 'Pride and Prejudice' with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle was something I watched on a weekly basis with my mum at home in Oxfordshire.”

“I don't really want to just play the girlfriend or the love interest. I get so many scripts like that, and - not to moan, because I'm really fortunate - but I just look at those scripts, and my heart sinks a little bit because I think there's so much more to us than that.”

“I'm interested in playing lots of different complex women.”

“I didn't really grow up on hip-hop. Ella Fitzgerald and the old school jazz divas are more my comfort zone.”

“That's the wonderful thing about acting - you play a role. It's about humanity, rather than labeling.”

“I like to choose things that fit my body for sure; you learn to find the things that complement your shape.”

“I think being biracial is a different experience. I think that, and coming from the U.K., I feel as much white as I do black. And so it's really important for me to address these issues of identity in my work. But also, you know, we're always stronger when we work on, you know, what we have in common. And I love exploring that in my work.”

“I was always the one leading the way in terms of wanting to do acting, singing and dancing. I was lucky that my mother had a very well-adjusted perspective of the world and never pressured me to do anything I didn't want to do.”

“It's odd doing a movie, and then a year and half later having to go to a premiere and talk about what you did, and get dressed up and have your picture taken.”