Zawe Ashton Quotes

It's not often you get female characters who don't fit into a box.

I'm drawn to female characters; not all of them are strong characters.

What I think is wonderful is that women are not just avengers or victims in films. They are people. They are characters. It's so refreshing. They're playing different kinds of characters, and they aren't being typecast.

Sometimes people are like, 'Do you want to play strong women?' I don't have to play strong women in order to feel like a strong woman myself, but I do feel it's important to play characters that are complex and interesting and believable.

I would say there is no Prada woman. I'm interested in women in general. I don't have any kind of preference.

There's a remarkable amount of sexism on TV. When male characters are flawed, they're interesting, deep and complex. But when female characters are flawed, they're just a mess. It's good to put more flawed but interesting female characters out there because it promotes equality.

We have to get women's stories out there so a guy will read it, laugh, and think, 'I'm not laughing at a chick story but a story.'

It's been difficult to find roles that are independent, strong, and self-assured; I always say I can't play the princess. I'm not a pretty princess! I'm a tomboy.

I don't like the idea of playing a one-dimensional character who is just fearless, strong, and killer and has instincts and just thrives in dangerous circumstances - that's really boring to me, and I don't think it represents what most women feel inside.

I think women have such rich emotional lives that they are expressive about. I also think they're funny. I like watching strong female characters, and I like writing them. I don't know if it's conscious that I gravitate towards women, but it's certainly evolved that way.

I think it's important that we have strong, female characters in movies now, which can really leave an impression on people - especially young people - and that they're not 'sexy' or 'cool.'

I like strong female characters. I try to write them as role models for young girls.

I think there are more female characters in videogames now but I also think that's because videogames in general are more diverse now.

I'm no Ripley. I had doubts that I could play her as strongly as she had to be played, but I must say that it was fun exploring that side of myself. Women don't get to do that very often.

I portray female characters, so I have the opportunity to change the way people look at them. Even if I wasn't consciously doing that, it would happen anyway just because of how I present as a woman, or as a person. I present in a way that's not stereotypical, even if I'm playing a stereotypical role.

It could be partly my taste. It's just my belief that there are female characters that will benefit from not being vulnerable.

People are afraid to show women with demons. But I think it's important for women to see flawed female characters. We're held to a perfect standard, but every woman is flawed.

One woman who I think is great is Vidya Balan: her casting in 'The Dirty Picture' was very exciting. Let's break new grounds; let's think beyond the usual. Why can't a woman who plays a mother also play a lover, or why a lover can't play a villain?

Especially for young girls growing up, it would be lovely to see strong women who don't necessarily need to be sexy or find that interesting. Or have to be the girlfriend or the mother. They can play complex characters that you want to follow and make you believe that you can be strong as well.

People want to put women in one box, and I'm interested in how women can be everything at once.

The beauty of 'The Hunger Games' and also 'Game of Thrones,' in fairness, both projects have really complex, three-dimensional, contradictory, strong women... The writing of female characters is extraordinary and equal to the men.

I'm really into strong, female roles - but they don't have to necessarily be loud - I'm just as interested in introverts too.

It was trying to break down the stereotypes and it was the kind of thing where, for the first time, women were on a par and not seen as just objects. Though girls were objectified still.

I'd just like to see a role for women where someone who isn't traditionally attractive is not portraying the best friend. You know, the character that only speaks in questions. 'Gee, are you gonna go out with him? Do you think I look fat?'

I think Amy Poehler and Tina Fey have done so much for women in comedy in the sense that they've normalized it. You don't think, 'I'm going to watch that comedy starring a woman,' you think, 'I'm going to watch that funny show.' They refuse to play the foils for men, or be reduced to the butt of every joke, and I love that about both of them.