Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Related Quotes:

" 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

" I like to choose things that fit my body for sure; you learn to find the things that complement your shape. "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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

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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" My personal style is somewhat androgynous and simple. With my lifestyle, I've become more of a minimalist. "

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

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" In 2009, I was living in London and getting work I enjoyed. "

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

" 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. "

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

" 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