Gugu Mbatha-Raw Quotes

I was 12 when it really hit me. I did children's theatre camp during the summers and played a fairy in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' The next summer, I played Clytemnestra in 'Agamemnon' and I was like, 'OK, this is amazing.'

I wasn't originally taking drama, but the drama teacher asked me to audition for Bye, Bye Birdie. I did and got the lead role. Initially I was kind of scared, but once I did it I got bitten by the bug and loved it.

For as long as I can remember, the thing that gave me a sense of wonderment and renewal... has always been the work of other actors.

When I was 15, I was asked to do 'Cyrano de Bergerac' at school, and it fundamentally changed my life. It's obviously an extraordinarily diverse and potentially electrifying part. It's a big leading part, and I hadn't really played anything like that before; I was the one doing the comedy side bit.

I was always the lead role in plays. I like entertaining people. I like when you're on stage doing crazy stuff and the audience gets it.

It was a wonderful experience to live the life for a year; to spend all day doing Shakespeare and then do a play in the evening.

When I was 16 years old, I joined a drama group called North Queensland Academy of Dramatic Art under a woman called Maggie Shephard-King. She inspired me to audition for the role of Romeo in 'Romeo and Juliet.'

I've played Hamlet and Coriolanus, Orlando in 'As You like It' and Ariel in 'Tempest,' among others.

I've got no need to prove to myself that I can do Shakespeare. I've done it.

When you do a play, you do it for a couple months, and it just gets in your bones. You can learn about somebody that way.

I've played almost every lead character from Henry VI to Othello. I'm dying to tackle Richard III sometime.

As a young actor, I worked with Kevin McNally and have always thought him brilliant.

I love the instant gratification of theatre - it reminds me of why I enjoy filming in the first place.

I would love to play Richard III.

One of my favourite pieces is 'Antony and Cleopatra' - I'd love to be in that. Or an alternative version of 'Romeo & Juliet' where I get to play Mercutio, something like that.

'Dogfight' is my favorite thing I've ever worked on. It's such a special piece, and I'm so close to the character of Rose. I loved doing it every night.

I was stage-struck from an early age. I just loved the language. We lived quite near Stratford so I would cycle and watch the plays.

I always loved drama at school. We had a great drama teacher at my secondary school, and she made drama feel cool. She inspired me, and then I did the National Youth Theatre in London.

I first started doing theatre, as my sister did it, so I wanted to do the same.

I really would love to do a piece like Julia Roberts or Charlize Theron in 'Erin Brockovich' or 'North Country.' They were both so amazing and so inspiring. I would love to touch someone in the way their performances touched me.

As rewarding as a good film role can be, there is just nothing like getting up on a stage and taking an audience for a ride.

To be fair, when I started doing 'Verdict' I literally had no idea what I was doing. I wanted to do some theatre, as I wanted to do something different. I wanted to learn and get an understanding of the craft.

I have theatre-training, I love doing theatre, I've done Broadway.

I played Hamlet, I played Chekhov and Ibsen and all the classics.

From there, I tried out for a community theatre play, joined an improv group... it all started opening up.