Gugu Mbatha-Raw Quotes

I consider acting a day job - it's not my dream; it's not my be-all, end-all.

I never really thought about what kind of career I wanted to map out for myself. I just wanted to do work that spoke to my heart. 'Atlanta' definitely did that.

The minute you decide to do what you love to do, you have made a life plan for yourself and a career choice.

I was lucky enough to know exactly what I wanted to do when I was growing up. I think one of the hardest things to figure out in life is what your calling is, and what truly makes you happy - not what you want to work at, but what you want to do.

I think that most people will spend their whole life not figuring out what they're meant to do, or figuring out what they're meant to do on their way to do something else. So I just feel lucky that I know what I love to do. Everything else figures itself out.

Do what you love, and you will find the way to get it out to the world.

I always knew I wanted to be an actor, certainly from the age of eight or nine. I think when you know what you want to do, you're very lucky because you've got a focus.

Why do writers, say, give up a job in economics and decide to write poetry? Or, why do they give up a job in a bank and decide to paint, like Krishan Khanna? They want to convey something.

As a kid, I had this ultimate goal to be a teacher. I wanted to be a history teacher like my dad.

Making films has never just been a job to me; it is my life. I have some interests outside of acting - I sing and I've written books, for instance - but acting is what keeps me going: it's what I do; it gives life purpose.

I have known that I wanted to be a designer since I was 8 years old.

I never struggled with trying to figure out what it was I wanted to do or what made the sparks go for me.

If I stopped writing and being at my piano, I wouldn't know how to live. It's your best friend.

I want to struggle and make films. It's not a financial thing, it's more of a who-I-am thing.

I lived to write, and wrote to live.

When I was 17 or 18 and it was time to figure out what to do with my life, I realized that I didn't enjoy anything as much as I enjoyed playing music. I felt that I had no choice: that I had to become a musician.

It's kind of not about the quality of the art, as much as this is what I love doing and I'd have a worse time doing anything else. That's kind of as far as I think in terms of philosophy.

The music itself could never take the place of my own passion in life.

I had this rare privilege of being able to pursue in my adult life, what had been my childhood dream.

If there is a job that you feel passionate about, do what you can to pursue that job; if there is a purpose about which you are passionate, dedicate yourself to that purpose.

I am one of the lucky people in the world: I found something I always wanted to do, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it.

I think sometimes we put too much of a gravity on what it is that we do... I just think you go out into the world, and if the door is open, pursue with excellence whatever it is that you feel you are called to pursue.

Art was - and is - my biggest outlet. I'd probably die if I didn't do it.

Everything has always been so organic for me; I have no idea what I would be doing if it wasn't for music. Music forever!

Music is what I always dreamed of doing. But at a certain point in my career, they convinced me to act, and that started me acting.