Danai Gurira Quotes

I'm just an artist and I'm doin' what I like to do.

There are so many actors that I meet that don't act enough. Definitely take class, definitely train - that's the most important thing you do. Build your craft. Become better.

I was lucky enough to be able to grow and mature in a natural way as an actress.

Now that I've got some films under my belt, I have the courage of my convictions regarding acting. It gives me a leg to stand on.

I've learned more and more on each show that I've done. I've been blessed and I've gotten to work with some very talented actors - James Gandolfini, Treat Williams. I've kind of always asked for advice and tried to take in as much as I could whenever working with them.

It's not like every actor needs to train, but an actor will either develop their process through training or through working.

It took many years of acting classes to get even remotely comfortable, but that's OK. It helped me so much on a personal level, not to mention professionally.

Eight years of steady acting training nonstop... three years in the profession. And I'm still in the apprentice mode and I'm still watching everybody and learning.

Wanting to be better as an actor, model, and person in general motivates me to push myself.

With no back-up in the industry, it is tough to prove yourself.

I admire actresses who are willing to jettison the easy route toward exposure and commercial success as an actor in favor or a slow burn, choosing projects carefully, and building an artistic practice over time that feels specific to who they are as artists.

When I started my career, I never looked at myself as one to be inspirational, but as I continued to grow, I've met so many different people who ask, 'How do you do it? You make it look easy.' But it's not easy. I have certain tricks and tips I use every day that have been working for me.

Mentors and sponsors, particularly in the early stages of my career, were invaluable to me because they encouraged me to raise my hand and take opportunities to build my capabilities.

I found people I really wanted to work for; I made myself available to do whatever I could with the skills I had; I took some risk, packing up and moving to Chicago; and I looked for the opportunities that fit for me. So I think the biggest advice is to find people you love to work for who you're going to learn from.

The more I learn and grow, the more I feel fulfilled, and even if I'm shooting a commercial for a car or a computer, I try to deliver a filmmaker's point of view where I can learn from the experience. Then I really enjoy it.

The best option that you can have as an actor is pure instinct and you should be able to protect your instinct. Information can either cloud your instinct or aid it.

Now, being a model and an actor, I'm trying to learn more as my profession demands it.

One of the reasons I needed to leave Dream Theater was because I didn't want to end my career as just the drummer in one band.

I've played in a lot of different roles through the course of my career and I've been a starter for a lot of those years and the mentality can never change.

It wasn't until I got out in the world and started worked professionally when I realized that the people I admired were the ones who had taken the little snippets of what they learned that worked for them - and strung them together in their own technique.

I have always tried to put content in my work. It is a consistent challenge.

I seem to have been possessed by a mind of my own and I did not merely want to be a pop product, but I wanted to be an artist which was always my ambition.

Right now, at the age of 22, I'm making a living off of this and I'm building, not only just my brand, but I'm also building myself bell-to-bell. I'm building myself when that red light's on and I want to keep doing it.

I'm an artist, and I need to work, like everybody. We need to be challenged and that we're getting up and doing something with our lives.

I went to art school, and I studied drawing and video art, and I've always approached music so visually as a result that I found it really difficult in the past to kind of hand off music to another director, 'cause it just ends up being this kind of mid-zone where it's nobody's vision, really.