Quotes from Ruth Negga

Some people say to me, 'You don't sound very Irish.' It's because I have this tendency to iron out my accent: not because I'm ashamed of it but because it makes my life easier if I don't keep having to repeat myself.

I use the term 'spine' for people when I think that they may seem on the surface sort of reticent, shy, self-deprecating, shying away from the spotlight. Quiet.

I don't like the term 'colour-blind' - because I don't want people to be blind to my colour.

I become very territorial about my identity because it's been hijacked by so many people with their own projections.

People have always made assumptions about me. I become very territorial about my identity because it's been hijacked by so many people with their own projections.

I think a lot of actors feel like outsiders or miscreants. This profession provides an opportunity to play out all the different parts of ourselves.

I have not been aggressive in my pursuit of being a star. I've never had a plan. Maybe I need to be more aggressive, because it's quite tough!

People have these ideas about comic books and their adaptations as flashy and sort of surface-y, broad-strokes-type projects, but they're not, really.

History is written by the winners. My job as an artist is to speak up for those who might be perceived as the losers. Or those who can't shout.

I don't think I've necessarily been able to pick and choose in my career; I don't know how many people do. But I'll tell you what I've been able to do: I've been able to say no. It is the only thing you can hold on to sometimes, is that ability to say 'no.' And I think that in that way, you can create some kind of career.

I like connecting with people, and that's what good art is: a point of connection. There's nothing better, on stage or on film.

The good thing about auditioning is that you get to test yourself and see if you can play this character - you're also auditioning yourself.

I think kids are amazing. You kind of just deal with stuff, don't you? It's only years later that you have to spend thousands in therapy.

I've gone into auditions, and I think they have an assumption about me when they see my photo, and then I open my mouth, and they say, 'Where exactly are you from? And you were born in Ethiopia? But you're Irish, but you also kind of sound English. That's really strange.'

There are no actions involved in 'beautiful.' It's such an inactive thing, and it's so subject to each individual's taste and appreciation. It's a lovely word, but I feel like it's been hijacked by really boring, dull people who don't understand how to use words.

When you label someone 'up and coming' or 'the new breakout,' there's this kind of expectation. And I think, like I said before, it's very hard to live up to that expectation when you really don't have that much power as an actor - in terms of your career path and the timing.

I think it's a good thing for everybody that we see the entire world reflected back at us on our screens.

I don't like hobbies. I read and travel and see my friends before they disown me.

When I was little, I thought that everyone wanted to hold me as a baby because I was this thing of fascination. But rather than this thing that wasn't quite right, I just felt that my difference was something that was probably very exotic.

I didn't have that many black people in my life, so I had to sort of search them out. And I didn't grow up in America, but I identified as much with their writing about the black experience as I did with their writing about the human experience.

I'm shy at public speaking, which is tough.

Sometimes it's hard to play someone so similar to you, because you can muddy the character. Often, it's easier to play someone further away from you, because it's clearer who they are.

My whole life is an interracial relationship! It's inescapable. I am who I am.

I trained, went to college, trained, and got a job. Then got another job. When I wasn't working I worked at a bar, then got another job.