Home
Authors
Tags
App
Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App
" 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
Related Quotes:
" I'm a very improvisational cook. I sort of like to make things up as I go along. I'm quite creative in the kitchen. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Creative
Kitchen
Things
" 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
" 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 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
Music
Love
Home
" 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
" I'm interested in playing lots of different complex women. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Complex
Women
Playing
" Different fragrances promote different emotions, and I find that fragrance gets me in the frame of mind for that person. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Find
Me
Mind
" 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
" 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
" Speaking as a mixed-race woman, there aren't many historical stories about people like me. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Woman
Me
People
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
School
Job
Girl
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Women
Society
Love
" 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
" 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
Growing Up
Growing
Enjoyment
" In 2009, I was living in London and getting work I enjoyed. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Work
London
Living
" 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
" 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
Places
Coffee
Go
" I try not to define myself. Other people are going to do that for you anyway. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Try
Define
Going
" 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
" You have to be able to appreciate who you are. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Able
Who
You
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Look
Think
Love
" From the age of four, I loved ballet and tap. I was in the school band, the choir, and all my school plays. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Band
Choir
School
" 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
" My personal style is somewhat androgynous and simple. With my lifestyle, I've become more of a minimalist. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Personal
Style
Simple
" I feel like my work has been incredibly diverse. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
I Feel Like
Feel
Work
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Hair
Job
Little
" In terms of 'Beyond the Lights' and 'Belle,' they're definitely stories about identity. They're female empowerment stories. So I'm exploring that through my work. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Work
About
Lights
" 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
" For film, I think because it's more detailed, and especially with historical material, you really have to find the right projects. Speaking as a mixed-race woman, there aren't many historical stories about people like me. When people think of 'dual heritage,' they think it's a modern concept, but really it's not. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Me
Heritage
People
" 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. "
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Singer
Up
Lot