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" I was lucky to get into drama school and become a professional actor. No-one ever mentioned the colour of my skin. It's only when I came out of RADA - the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art - that I suddenly realised people started to refer to me as a black actor. "

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" Growing up, I really looked up to the classic Hollywood actors like Spencer Tracy, Robert Mitchum, and Peter Falk. I love character actors - I've never wanted to be the leading guy. "

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" Support for charities takes many forms. Some people give their money, some their spare time. I give my name and my voice. We give what we can to make a difference to the people and issues that matter to us. But what's most important, especially for celebrities, is giving our genuine commitment. "

" It's pretty hard to stand in the queue auditioning to play a gynaecologist on 'Holby City' when you've just played Mandela. You think, 'Actually, I want to challenge myself.' "

" My parents are very proud of my success but still worry, as I'm in a profession where there is no guarantee of work. They have always supported my decision to go into acting, but there have been tough times work-wise. "

" Everyone wants to be James Bond, and there's a queue of guys ahead of me - but I will throw my hat into the ring. Bond is such an iconic role, you would have to seriously think how to approach it. "

" You have to have a certain single-mindedness if you want to reach the top of the profession, and I'm not sure if I've got that cold-eyed egomania that perhaps is needed to get to the top. So as long as I can keep paying the mortgage and keep myself interested, I'll be happy. "

" You always want to look your best at events like the Globes, Emmys, or Oscars. It's a part of the business that I am not particularly comfortable with. I would prefer to turn up in a pair of jeans and an old shirt, but it's all about image - the studio wants you to look your best. "

" I can only appreciate the kind of work that goes into being a top drag queen. Ru Paul looks just astonishing as a woman. And he's got this fantastic turn of phrase. I find him hilarious. "

" When I first played Othello, a reviewer absolutely slaughtered me. "

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" Giving kids the chance to see live theatre should not just be free, it should be compulsory. "

" My black hero is and always will be Martin Luther King, not just because of the strength of his oratory but because his vision was very much the reality that I'd come to take for granted. "

" British people are surprised that I'm British! It's extraordinary, I get tweets every day from British people saying, 'I had no idea you were British.' "

" I have always been reasonably anonymous, but I suppose that has gone with the success of 'Homeland.' I feel a lot more visible, which is good and bad. Good because I am getting recognition, but I am slightly apprehensive because I always enjoyed my anonymity. "

" I've been on 'Mastermind' - I tied for first place and then lost on the number of passes. My subject was the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy by Philip Pullman. If I did it again, I'd choose Shakespearian tragedies. "

" I grew up in an environment in Birmingham that was really multicultural, with black kids, Irish kids, Indian kids. "

" We've yet to deal with the uncomfortable history of England being involved in the transatlantic slave trade, whereas America has at least made some movies dealing with its racial history. "

" We live on a planet of limited resources - an abstract notion for some of the world's population, but for many of the poorest and most vulnerable, those limits are all too real. "

" After 'Homeland,' I was offered a lot of very authoritarian, square, angry boss types, but I wanted to do something different. Casting directors are surprised when they look at my CV and see all the work I've done, from Shakespeare to playing Nelson Mandela. "

" I started reading DC stuff much later in my life. You realize that there's a huge difference between the Marvel universe and the DC universe and the characters that own it. "

" I love the stage, but it doesn't pay the mortgage. "

" You don't just win an Oscar because you're a great actor. You campaign for that Oscar: you engage with it; you go on the David Letterman show, and you do the interviews, and that's how you get out there. "

" American television, for all its faults, still has a black presence in shows and even in commercials. You'll see black people in automobile ads, black women starring on their own television shows. We don't see that on British television. "

" When my agent told me I had an audition for 'Friar Tuck,' I burst out laughing. It actually brought a bit of sunshine to my day. I was thinking: fat suit. I was thinking: shaving my head. It was so outlandish, such a crazy idea. "

" It would be extraordinary if the BBC were to make me the first black 'Doctor Who;' it would be extraordinary. "

" At school, I was the classroom clown - I was always being thrown out for being naughty. Before I left, a teacher called me in and suggested I became an actor. "

David Harewood

School

Teacher

" The area where I grew up in Birmingham was very diverse - I was aware of my race but not overly aware of it - and there seemed to be an understanding that we were all very much in the same boat. "

David Harewood

Race

Understanding

" I loathe the word 'celebrity,' and I hope I'm not a diva. Whenever I see diva-ish behaviour, I just leave the room; I find it appalling. You should always try to be civil to people. "

" We live in a world of strange priorities, where Kim Kardashian buying a Lamborghini creates international headlines, but children in Niger suffering from drought and children in Britain suffering from leukaemia go unnoticed. "

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Live

Suffering

" I'm very, very used to feeling anonymous, you know? "