Gugu Mbatha-Raw

I never wanted to be like anyone growing up. It's always been about the enjoyment, and I've just never wanted to imitate anyone.

I've always sung. I was really into musical theater when I was growing up. As a kid, I listened to Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone, actually, on cassette tapes.

This is going to sound really sad, but I didn't really have any heartthrobs when I was growing up. I was a bit of a geek.

In terms of 'Beyond the Lights' and 'Belle,' they're definitely stories about identity. They're female empowerment stories. So I'm exploring that through my work.

Watching and learning from the great Josette Bushell-Mingo, who was playing Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra at the time, and then to return to the same stage six months later playing a lead role, was incredible - I fell in love with the poetry and the breadth of the language so much that I didn't want it to end.

You've got to find a way to relate to people. I just did an improvised episode for Joe Swanberg's new Netflix show, 'Easy,' and it was a huge learning curve for me and taught me so much about fear and courage. But when you're present in the moment, the audience, it's incomparable.

This is what I've always wanted to do ever since I was a little girl. Coming from dance and theater and what was accessible to me in my hometown, it was all I did after school and on the weekends. The idea of making my hobby into my job was the ultimate quest.

Because of my job, my hair gets played with a lot on set, so I try to give it little bit of breathing space when I'm not working.

One of my favourite places is Hampstead Heath. When I first moved to London, I lived in Highgate, and I would walk on the Heath at the weekends and go to the Kenwood House coffee shop.

I like the collarbone, a very clean collarbone. I think there's something also very delicate and balletic about that part of a woman's body, and I'm not really a cleavage person, but I do like a back or a shoulder; I think there's something very alluring about backless dresses.

Corsets were a challenge in 'Belle;' fake nails tripped me up in 'Blackbird.' Guess I'm not a mani type of girl!

I'm interested in playing lots of different complex women.