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" I've met loads of black and brown and various people who are well into comics. "

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" I've always had sort of an interest in American history, full stop, and especially people who contributed to the civil rights struggle. "

" We need to have a conversation about the fact that black faces are not as visible as they should be, that there is huge inequality everywhere in terms of race. "

" Ninety percent of my roles, I've had to fight for. It's only a really small percentage of people who get handed roles. "

" I think a lot of actors feel like outsiders or miscreants. This profession provides an opportunity to play out all the different parts of ourselves. "

" My favorite film is 'All About Eve'. "

" There are no actions involved in 'beautiful.' It's such an inactive thing, and it's so subject to each individual's taste and appreciation. It's a lovely word, but I feel like it's been hijacked by really boring, dull people who don't understand how to use words. "

" People have always made assumptions about me. I become very territorial about my identity because it's been hijacked by so many people with their own projections. "

" I think if we don't understand history, if we don't keep referring back to it, we become complacent. And complacency, as we all know, it leads to repeating history. "

" When you connect to someone on a human level, and you get to know about them, you can begin to love the things that make them different. That's when fear dissipates, and that's when we can live the life that we're all supposed to be living. "

" Often, it's easier to play someone further away from you because it's clearer who they are. I think if you want to make a performance authentic, there are a certain amount of leaps of faith into the unknown that you have to take. Otherwise, you're not really risking anything. "

" In many ways, playing a real person is slightly easier because you have a road map. When you're playing someone fictitious, there's myriad ways in. With a real person, there's boundaries, and that sometimes makes the work easier. "

" I don't think I have ever thought of myself as a movie star. I think when I was about seven, I thought it must be lovely to have an Oscar. But the more involved you are in this business, the more that pretence disappears, and you really get to see what you love about it, and what I love is working. "

" I don't know why women aren't allowed to have the same sort of breadth and scope and flaws of men. "

" I think if you don't risk something in art, it's not really important. "

" I don't believe that directors need to essentially manipulate actors into doing things. You can suffer for your art, and you can make your own self suffer for your art. You don't need anyone else to do it for you. I work best when there's a safety trampoline of kindness. "

" I am not hugely famous; I am not a name. For me, it's not the size of the role, it's the material and the people you are working with. "

" When you label someone 'up and coming' or 'the new breakout,' there's this kind of expectation. And I think, like I said before, it's very hard to live up to that expectation when you really don't have that much power as an actor - in terms of your career path and the timing. "

" America has a black president, but there are no black studio heads, and there just aren't that many black people working anywhere on film sets, let alone in positions of power in Hollywood. That's what needs to change. "

" I don't really know how strong someone is if they're compelled to a life of violence. Is that strong? No. That's damaged. "

" You can suffer for your art, and you can make your own self suffer for your art. You don't need anyone else to do it for you. "

" Stories about race and identity pique my interest for obvious reasons. That's in my body, my brain, my history, my memories - it's all part of my toolbox as an actor. "

" My job as an artist is to speak up for those who might be perceived as the losers. Or those who can't shout. No wonder public-school people always get into politics or acting: they're taught to shout that much more loudly. "

" What I have wanted to do is take roles that are unexpected for people who look like me. Roles that the establishment would say, 'Oh, she couldn't possibly be that.' "

" I auditioned for 'Loving' two years before we started shooting, so in the hopes that I would be playing Mildred, I watched it again. Also it's one of the best documentaries I've seen. I found this couple interminably fascinating; even if I didn't get the part, I just wanted to know more about them and their story. "

" When I was little, I thought that everyone wanted to hold me as a baby because I was this thing of fascination. But rather than this thing that wasn't quite right, I just felt that my difference was something that was probably very exotic. "

" Bette Davis is my hero. I'm obsessed with her. I base everything I do on her. "

" You know when you're a kid and you get to pick a movie every Friday? I watched everything. There's no particular genre that was appealing. I just loved the idea that you could dress up and play. "

" The good thing about auditioning is that you get to test yourself and see if you can play this character - you're also auditioning yourself. "

" I know I've said it before in interviews, but the idea that all actors have their eye on some sort of prize - it being an Oscar, or fame, or whatever - not all actors I know are like that. "

" I'm always very careful to say I'm Irish-Ethiopian because I feel Ethiopian and I look Ethiopian and I am Ethiopian. But there are 81 languages in Ethiopia, and I don't know any of them. "