Zawe Ashton

“The first film I ushered was Lynne Ramsay's 'Morvern Callar.' I started at 18. Best job in the world. Blockbusters, indie films, classic matinees.”

“What a character wears and how it affects their mood and their movements has always been very important to me. A character's clothes, if they're truthful, can make audiences feel something.”

“As an actor you can always blame the director or writer for negative feedback. But as a writer, you're the reason why everyone's in the room.”

“I'm someone who likes to explore the complexities in people.”

“From the outside, some people might consider me a hipster!”

“If you cut me open I bleed East London.”

“Good writing shouldn't be wrapped in cellophane. It should be open to the elements and full of maggots and it should be left to grow and deepen and fester.”

“A lobster roll and a few glasses of fizz and I'm happy.”

“I do always try and do work that I'm going to be interested in talking about when it's released.”

“Episodic TV is notoriously brutal because just when you think 'I've got this, I know this character' you can pick up the script for series four and you die in the first episode - or your character suddenly transitions from a woman to a man.”

“Some people shun the idea of role models but I think it's one of the most important things people have in life - role models, to look up to.”

“Mum got me involved in every activity under the sun - singing, dancing and drama classes at the Anna Scher theatre school.”

“As a director I would love to work with Marion Cotillard. She's so magical.”

“What sometimes annoys me about the arts is increasingly that we have to put real people on screen or stage.”

“I had a meeting a while back with a big group of women - actors and producers and writers - who are all ethnic minorities and we just aired what we thought was happening and why, and someone said that, as a black or mixed race actress, you feel like you're renting space instead of carving out a career. But I'm just going to get on with it.”

“I have no idea how to ever sell myself in a snazzy way.”

“I'm doing a play at Trafalgar Studios with The Jamie Lloyd Company - 'The Maids' by Jean Genet with Uzo Aduba and Laura Charmichael, directed by Jamie Lloyd. It's one of my favourite plays by one of my favourite playwrights.”

“For me, food is all about nostalgia.”

“I think there's still a feeling within society, entertainment aside, that women are less funny than men.”

“If I was someone who wanted to do just love-interest roles then I'd be in a difficult position. But thankfully I'm someone who likes to do things that are edgy and different.”