I think we just look back at our mothers, our mothers' mothers, and our mothers' mothers' mothers, we have so much power just in our DNA. I hope people will realize that you don't need all of these special effects to feel that you have power inside of you.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Categorized in : Entertainment

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

labels self worry

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

growing-up girl character

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

sweat responsibility blood

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

trying people

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

shields slave self-worth

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

emotion different mind

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

choices kind trying

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

different skills littles

I'm a multi-faceted human being.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

human-beings humans

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

perspective lucky mother

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

race trying thinking

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

media artist people

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

roles jobs needs

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

language ears fun

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

timing theater opportunity

To play Cleopatra on Broadway would just be incredible.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

incredibles broadway play

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

play character thinking

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

born music-is remember

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

heart boys people

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

home littles thinking