Quotes from Sophie Okonedo

I am rather partial to Shakespeare, though I haven't done loads. But when it's done right, there's nothing like it. There are layers upon layers upon layers, and you unpack new things constantly. I don't know how he knew so many things - about the world, about women, about human nature, life, death, our fears and hopes.

Anyone can play anyone in Shakespeare. I don't think there are limits.

I find it so all-encompassing when acting that there's no room for anything else when you're in it; you're just locked into thinking about it all day, you go to sleep with it, wake up with it, and when I come back, I really need time to recover.

There are just more roles for me in America. Sadly. Because I love working in Britain. It's my home.

It was a dream to be on Broadway as a kid, so to actually end up there, I loved it.

I never suffered anti-Semitic racism because no one thought I was Jewish.

To get an award for something you are having a ball doing is a real buzz.

Theatre has always been ahead in terms of colourblind casting.

Being a character actor, I can go on until I'm 70 or 80; I'm not bound to the way I look.

I always try to think of positive things to say about the people I portray, as it's more helpful for me.

I'm drawn to stories about ordinary people who get tangled up in an extraordinary event or idea or emotion. I'm not saying I don't love films about super-people or super-doctors, but my preference is for stories about how we get through this life, what it is to be human, because I'm always struggling with it myself.

As a black actress, all I was offered in British film was the best friend role, whereas in TV I was offered a whole spectrum of parts.

My first love is a wonderful script. It's the story.

The tried and tested becomes very boring. There's no way that the British equivalent of a Bryan Cranston would get the lead in a British equivalent of 'Breaking Bad.'

But I'll tell you what I'm really bad at: I don't concentrate on what I'm doing, so I constantly lose things. I put my purse in the fridge - I'm one of those people.

I like having the script before I start. With new plays, you're constantly developing as you're doing it. It's really frightening. You don't quite know how it's going to end up.

The repetition of the theatre means you've got the time to get deeply inside the person you're playing.

I don't like going for more than a year without doing theatre. I don't mind falling flat on my face so long as I feel I'm open to the possibility of something extraordinary happening.

As a child, I certainly wanted to have hair that I could grow long and flip around. I no longer want that. My own hair that I have day to day is a fuzzy afro. And that's who I am.

I like gardening.

I love the industry I'm in, and it's been really generous to me.

I can't, for example, Google myself, because I am very sensitive.

There is a lot more opportunity now, and I welcome all the conversations we are having about diversity, about women and about class... I come from a very working-class background, and I think the class thing is still probably more tricky.

The photo shoot I always feel a bit embarrassed about because I don't really know what to do with myself, but they usually don't use a bad photo, so you can't worry too much. So my main concern is that I just look a bit more like myself.