“I actually like getting up to blue skies.”
“The old men running the industry just have not got a clue. They’ve got to come to terms with the fact that Britain is no longer a totally white place where people ride horses, wear long frocks and drink tea. The national dish is no longer fish and chips; it’s curry.”
“Music is something I couldn’t live without. My dad was into music, he played for pleasure – guitar, piano. I started off doing jazz, singing with a lot of fabulous musicians here in London before I went to the States. And I still take piano lessons every Wednesday.”
“I wanted to be a barrister for a long time.”
“Religion has nothing to do with spirituality.”
“I don’t think children have competed with my career, they have clarified it. My children ground me. They make me honest.”
“There needs to be more film directors of colour. They bandy about the word ‘diversity’ a lot, but when I say ‘of colour,’ I mean Asian, black – I mean people of all colour. We need to have those voices given the opportunity, not told that their films will not be distributed or will not sell well abroad.”
“I love a bit of passion.”
“I love the mountains, the light. I’m a real light junkie.”
“I’m a member of the African diaspora: my parents left the Caribbean and came to London for a better life.”
“I see myself as British, and I want to be celebrated by Britain.”
“If you think about it, I made history. Not only was I the first black British woman to be nominated for an Oscar, I was the first black British person.”
“I want to work, so I’m going where the work is.”
“With a series, you build the character as you go. When you’ve got a shorter project or a film, you know the overall arc from the beginning.”
“I still take my own lunches to work. That way I can control what I’m eating, as opposed to another doughnut.”
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