Sophie Okonedo Quotes

Well, of course, every actor's limited, and I am the first one to admit it, in all honesty, when I think that I've hit the wall a bit. I'm not ashamed at all, I think it's a process that you have to go through. That's how you learn.

I am not an insecure person. For me, insecurity comes when something I do does not come across the way I thought it would. It would come if I had nothing more to say as an actor. I have a long way to go!

I think the better actor I am, the better person I become.

Self-awareness is one of the biggest enemies to creativity.

Actors, by nature, are insecure. I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. It is good to question yourself, be self-analytical. You get a better performance if you challenge yourself. If you go around thinking you're great, you're never going to challenge or scare yourself.

If I wasn't an actor and I watched my films, I could easily be like 'This guy's a clown,' you know?

I think one thing that's important to maintain is a sense of fear, always doubting yourself... a good dose of insecurity helps your work in some ways.

I try to be a good person. I know what my downfalls are, so that's a good thing.

I struggle to watch myself in any scene, to be honest. What's done is done. I wish I was able to watch myself, as it would really help me develop as an actor. But I'm not brave enough. It's a difficult thing to do - looking at yourself as this utterly different person on a screen.

Will I become a coach in the future? No way. I'd never be able to put up with someone like me.

For a long time I managed to think two things simultaneously, that I am actually a good playwright, and that the next time I write a play I will be revealed as someone who is no good at all.

I suppose I have very undesirable traits. I am very critical, which is very undesirable. But it is good from a business point of view.

Everybody wants to be good, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great. To many people, being nice in order to be liked is more important. There's equal merit in that, but you must not confuse being good with being liked.

The biggest obstacle to people becoming better is that you have to really want to be a good person in order to be a better person, and most people would rather be other things.

I reached a point where I didn't think I was that great. I'm not being humble. I was looking at things and thinking: 'You're not really good in that'. I think I was becoming boring as well as bored. It was nobody's fault except mine - probably - and it might not even be my fault.

I was terrible in my first play. After that experience, I had to face that I wasn't good enough to play with the big boys. I had to go away and learn, so I worked in regional theater for three years. I even understudied at the Kennedy Center.

I always say I've given 24 insufficient performances and I'm looking forward to the time in my life when I'll do something that I think is good. There's always stuff you can do better, stuff that maybe you didn't uncover enough. But if you do something that you truly believe is perfect, then that's got to be the last movie you do.

I'm a good person, I hope. But I'm never as good as I want to be, never as nice as I want to be, never as generous as I want to be.

I love how people in this business push themselves to know themselves, the world, and their creativity better.

I know I've done good things, I know I've done bad things.

Well, any time you do anything good, it's man versus himself, right? That's the art, the challenge.

I can't say I've ever finished a film and been particularly thrilled with myself or patted myself on the back. And maybe that's what keeps me going, and that's a good thing. It speaks volumes about how I perceive myself.

I am a great admirer of other actors, but I never compete with other actors. I always compete with what I did last, and I'm my own most vicious critic. So I'm always trying to do it better.

No one can be great, or good, or happy except through the inward efforts of themselves.

It's still difficult for me to watch my work.