I grew up watching foreign programs – American, English, Mexican, and very little Kenyan. ‘The Color Purple’ was the first time I saw people who looked like me.
Steve McQueen is a genius. And I think that word is overused, but I think with Steve it’s rightly used. He’s a genius.
I had this vivid image of myself at the age of 60 looking back on my life and truly regretting the fact that I hadn’t tried to be an actor.
I can speak of actors that I love. I love Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, her tenacity. I love Charlize Theron. She’s so surprising and so exhilarating, the kinds of projects she takes on. Marion Cotillard as well.
I’m interested in generating work for myself. I have trouble with this waiting-for-the-phone-to-ring lifestyle, especially after drama school, which was so creatively fulfilling.
I always love to learn new things. That’s the reason I like being an actor.
I never, in my wildest dreams, could I have thought that the first role I get out of school would lead to an Oscar nomination.
Happiness is the most important thing.
I definitely intend to create my own work in the future so that we don’t have to keep saying we don’t have work for black women. But right now I don’t know what’s next. I hope that there are more opportunities to come my way.
In the madness, you have to find calm.
What’s becoming very obvious to me is that fashion is art.
I went to the Independent Spirit Awards and won.
We, as human beings, have the capacity for extreme cruelty.
I grew up in Nairobi, which is the capital of Kenya, so it’s hustle and bustle, and there’s always something going on.
I’m pretty awesome at making salad dressings.
There’s always a sense of newness with acting, because every role, you come to every role fresh.
I would love to have a career that’s governed by the material; I always want to be part of stories that I feel are worthwhile.
To this day, I love eating steak tacos before going to the red carpets.
As human beings, what makes us able to empathize with people is a connection that is not necessarily understood mentally.
I do my best work when I feel conviction to say something through the character I play. Always I want to have integrity and not compromise that.
Drama is my sweet spot, but the thing about being an actor is that you want to do a variety of things. I definitely love fantasy and would want to be in a fantasy project.