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" I am an only child, so I relate to the intensity of that single-parent, mother-daughter relationship. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Relationship
Intensity
I Am
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" In 2009, I was living in London and getting work I enjoyed. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Work
London
Living
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Experience
Change
Fight
" I like the collarbone, a very clean collarbone. I think there's something also very delicate and balletic about that part of a woman's body, and I'm not really a cleavage person, but I do like a back or a shoulder; I think there's something very alluring about backless dresses. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Person
Woman
Clean
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Moment
Fear
Learning
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
World
Mother
Perspective
" Watching and learning from the great Josette Bushell-Mingo, who was playing Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra at the time, and then to return to the same stage six months later playing a lead role, was incredible - I fell in love with the poetry and the breadth of the language so much that I didn't want it to end. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Time
Poetry
Love
" When I'm not working, I'm really, really low key. I don't wear makeup unless I have to; I don't get my hair done unless I really need to. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Hair
Done
Working
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Work
Think
Experience
" At home I wear my own clothes, no makeup and don't do anything exciting with my hair. I get to borrow pretty dresses for the red carpet and have experts do my hair and makeup. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Clothes
My Own
Makeup
" I try not to define myself. Other people are going to do that for you anyway. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Try
Define
Going
" I've always sung. I was really into musical theater when I was growing up. As a kid, I listened to Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone, actually, on cassette tapes. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Growing Up
Up
Kid
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Think
Mental Health
Health
" The actors that inspire me are the comedians and the people able to shape-shift into different roles and into different media. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Different
People
Media
" I'm interested in playing lots of different complex women. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Complex
Women
Playing
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
My Own
Life
Think
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Home
Basis
Prejudice
" I didn't really grow up on hip-hop. Ella Fitzgerald and the old school jazz divas are more my comfort zone. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Comfort Zone
Grow
Old
" I feel like I learn in every project. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Learn
I Feel Like
Feel
" I think there are parts of myself in every character I play. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Character
I Think
Myself
" When I was nine, 'The Borrowers' was such a big series for me! "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Nine
Series
Big
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
You
Perspective
Good
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Music
Hair
Clothes
" I feel like my work has been incredibly diverse. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
I Feel Like
Feel
Work
" I do a lot of yoga, and when I'm in L.A., I have an outdoorsy sort of lifestyle. It's sort of comfortable, West Coast, yoga chic. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
West Coast
West
Comfortable
" When you become a slave to a public persona and don't feel comfortable without it, it becomes a shield, and it shouldn't come at the expense of your self-worth. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
You
Feel
Your
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Work
Will
New
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Nature
Touch
Me
" This is going to sound really sad, but I didn't really have any heartthrobs when I was growing up. I was a bit of a geek. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Going
Sound
Sad
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Great
You
Balance
" Corsets were a challenge in 'Belle;' fake nails tripped me up in 'Blackbird.' Guess I'm not a mani type of girl! "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Challenge
Fake
Girl