Gugu Mbatha-Raw
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
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
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
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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
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
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
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

You have to be able to appreciate who you are.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
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
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
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
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
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
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
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
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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