Gugu Mbatha-Raw quotes:

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.

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.

Corsets were a challenge in 'Belle;' fake nails tripped me up in 'Blackbird.' Guess I'm not a mani type of girl!

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.

I didn't really grow up on hip-hop. Ella Fitzgerald and the old school jazz divas are more my comfort zone.

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.

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.

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

Different fragrances promote different emotions, and I find that fragrance gets me in the frame of mind for that person.

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

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.

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

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.

But 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The actors that inspire me are the comedians and the people able to shape-shift into different roles and into different media.

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.

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.

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

As a biracial girl growing up in England, I'd never really seen any historical characters who looked like me depicted on film before that weren't being brutalized or playing slaves.

As an actress, I'm an emotional person.

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.

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 Im not working.

For me, after emotionally intense roles, I'd need to take a step back because then there's the promoting of the film which is another job in itself.

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.

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.

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.

For me, it was all about working with an inspirational filmmaker.

I always get a little bit scared reading reviews.

I don't really have one dish. 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.

I enjoy classics, but classics are classics for a reason.

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

I prefer to focus on the future. There are a lot of new stories to be heard.

I think all characters that we play are facets of ourselves.

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

I think, irrespective of your race, everybody has moments in life where they don't fit in, or where they try to puzzle through who they really are or to find the courage of their convictions.

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

I try not to limit myself. The actors that inspire me are the comedians and the people able to shape-shift into different roles and into different media. That ensures your longevity as an artist and prevents you from getting bored with yourself and, hopefully, prevents people from getting bored with you.

I try to define myself through my own choices rather than just accepting society's kind of you're that, you're that, let me put you in a box kind of thing.

I try to put myself into whatever character I play.

I was always the one leading the way in terms of wanting to do acting, singing and dancing.

I was born in the '80s, so I don't really remember it very strongly, but the music is so iconic.

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.

I was working in the States when Brexit was going on back home in England. I often think that maybe I got a little complacent on the situation since I wasn't physically there. That's when I realized, Wow, anything is possible.

I'm a multi-faceted human being.

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

I'm just broadening my craft and stretching my skills a little bit in different directions.

I'm not turning my back on classical theater. It's all about opportunities and timing a lot of the time when things come up.

It is important to be conscious of the message that you're putting out there. It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get a movie to the screen. I do feel a certain element of responsibility to say something worth saying with it, as well as entertainment.

It's not often that you get a chance in one role to do the glamour bit and then strip off all the makeup and reveal the real person beneath the façade. Usually, it's either a glamorous role or a raw, emotional role.

I've always had an ear for languages and music so it's something I'm continually working on but it's fun.

The only valid starting point is to understand what we all share - we have to find what we can all agree on.

There is the old boys' club, but there are people who are "conviction lobbyists" coming from the heart.

To play Cleopatra on Broadway would just be incredible.

Don't worry about society's conditioning and the labels that are put on you by external forces. Hold onto your true self.

Because I had grown up with Jane Austen novels and period dramas, I was very familiar with that period and that world.