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" I never wanted to be like anyone growing up. It's always been about the enjoyment, and I've just never wanted to imitate anyone. "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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

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" 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. "

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" 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. "

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" 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. "

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" I feel like my work has been incredibly diverse. "

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" I try not to define myself. Other people are going to do that for you anyway. "

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" 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. "

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

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" I just love performing so much, and I threw myself into every musical theater production that was going in my home town and at school. And then, I went to the National Youth Music Theatre, which was really a galvanizing experience for me when I was 17. "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" 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

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" 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. "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" When I was nine, 'The Borrowers' was such a big series for me! "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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. "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" Speaking as a mixed-race woman, there aren't many historical stories about people like me. "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" Because of my job, my hair gets played with a lot on set, so I try to give it little bit of breathing space when I'm not working. "

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" 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

" I like being free to take on any project that inspires me and to trust that the work will speak for itself. "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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. "

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" 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

" 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. "

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" 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. "

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" 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. "

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