Gugu Mbatha-Raw Quotes

You can't become what you aren't, or you will start feeling awful about yourself.

I'm not concerned with what people think of me.

There's absolutely no way you can feel the freedom to embarrass and humiliate yourself unless you have finally recognized that your identity is in someone other than yourself.

Our biggest struggle as human beings is to project ourselves as something that society has deemed admirable or likable instead of being honest.

When I was 18, and my looks were what I was - and all that I was - it did feel very limiting.

I always wanted to be more validated as a human being, as a person, than I was as a player. I think that was a really hard balance for me.

I felt like I needed to be a 'pretty girl' for someone else. I felt like I needed to change a lot about who I actually was to be perfect for them instead of just being who I am genuinely.

Whether at work, at home or in public, we have been trained to believe that who we are at the core of our being is often unacceptable. As a result, we work diligently to live up to - and sometimes down to - what others have made us out to be, whether or not it is an accurate reflection of who we are.

If you get trapped in the idea that what is most important is what image of yourself you're giving to the world, you're on a dangerous path.

I'm not worried any more about changing people's view of me.

As for what other people think of me, I could worry about that every day, but choose not to.

Many people identify their sense of self with the problems they have, or think they have.

Very early on, you figure out that you put your self-esteem in the hands of strangers. There's a different commodity. There's the Helena Bonham Carter that everyone thinks they know, who really has nothing to do with me. But you just have to let that go.

What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.

I try not to invest time in what other people think of me.

Lots of us when we're children believe 'oh well, if the world knew us as we really are, they'd know what wonderful, clever, brilliant, charming people we really are.'

When I got my headshots done, there was this woman screaming at me to blow my lips out. She kept saying, 'You want to be like Scarlett Johansson, don't you?' In the shot, my eyes are popping out; I look terrified. I realised I'd rather not get a job than go through pain to be something I'm not.

Consider what people think of you, but don't be afraid of what people think of you.

I think that dwelling on other people's perception of you is the road to complete madness, unfortunately. I try and resist that.

I'm not focused on what other people think of me.

I don't really care if people think I'm good-looking or not; it doesn't define me as a person.

If I am not grotesque, I am nothing.

I was raised to sense what someone wanted me to be and be that kind of person. It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes.

Beauty was never really my trip. Maybe those roles are attracted to me?

I don't think I am narcissistic. I think I have low self-esteem.