Don't worry about society's conditioning and the labels that are put on you by external forces. Hold onto your true self.
I try not to define myself. Other people are going to do that for you anyway.
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.
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.
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 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 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 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.
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.
I think all characters that we play are facets of ourselves.
Different fragrances promote different emotions, and I find that fragrance gets me in the frame of mind for that person.
I'm just broadening my craft and stretching my skills a little bit in different directions.
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.
I prefer to focus on the future. There are a lot of new stories to be heard.
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.
I'm a multi-faceted human being.
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.
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 I had grown up with Jane Austen novels and period dramas, I was very familiar with that period and that world.
I enjoy classics, but classics are classics for a reason.
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 was always the one leading the way in terms of wanting to do acting, singing and dancing.
For me, it was all about working with an inspirational filmmaker.
