Words matter. These are the best Zawe Ashton Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I’m not really sure what defines ‘success in the real world’ to be honest! It’s so objective once you graduate, some people work, some people start families, some go looking for themselves up mountains in Peru.
If you’re looking for reps, write letters that are short and professional. Make sure you have a really great reel of yourself. If there are friends you know who are making short films, do them – it’s all material for your reel.
I was very fortunate to have had three years on ‘Fresh Meat,’ before working on ‘Not Safe for Work.’ Comedy drama is a very hard genre to nail so I was very glad to have had some practice.
I’ve always wanted to live somewhere extremely nice like Sloane Square… although that would probably be too nice for me.
I actually grew up around the corner from where Harold Pinter did. If you want a snapshot of my childhood, me and Pinter, we essentially grew up together.
Todd Solondz is a film maker I’ve always loved because of how he balances darkness, humour and surrealism in his films.
I’m Hackney born and bred and find it hard to call anywhere else home despite the extreme ongoing gentrification which gets me down.
The chasm between independent film and commercial film is now so wide. You either have to be super-famous and get a first-time director or writer’s indie script off the ground, or you’re a newcomer and go and put a cape on for four years.
Good writing shouldn’t be wrapped in cellophane. It should be open to the elements and full of maggots and it should be left to grow and deepen and fester.
For me, food is all about nostalgia.
I like clothes that feel fresh and surprising.
A lobster roll and a few glasses of fizz and I’m happy.
I’ve had doors slammed in my face, I’ve been shouted at in my face in meetings when I’ve stood up for myself.
I hate using the word ‘dark’ for things that are negative.
Dreams of a Life’ and ‘Fresh Meat’ have left me on such a high. I’m not complaining but I’m not complacent either.
From the outside, some people might consider me a hipster!
I know I’m different and I don’t fit in to any kind of generic mould.
I do think about moving out of London a lot, whether that’s L.A., whether that’s Margate with half of the other Hackneyites.
Art galleries are the best first date spots for my money.
I want to be a successful actor, never a famous star. Because one is an organic meal that will sustain you, and the other is toxic.
As a director I would love to work with Marion Cotillard. She’s so magical.
Living with the notion that you might never have a permanent spot in the world is really quite a powerful metaphor.
Honestly, the life of a serial character on television, I’d love to write an essay about it.
For me, the banner that I want to wave in terms of giving a jump start to writers of any gender is just to make female protagonists as complex as their male counterparts.
I prefer to avoid the phrase ‘strong women’ when talking about female characters and the lack thereof or the need therefore, because it’s not about being strong, it’s also about being vulnerable, funny etc.
I hate talking about class, but the truth is as an actor you’re only going to be doing some really great work if you can afford to be out of work and take the good stuff. If you can’t, you’re going to be treading quite a different path.
It has taken a long time for me to really dress as the artist that I am: I’m an indie girl, I like experimental, I like things to be subverted. Details are the fun part.
When I’m doing a play like ‘Betrayal,’ I have to be careful not to get stimulation overload.
Secondary school was a lot harder. That was probably my hardest time. Some of the girls were really nasty. I had to move schools because of the bullying there.
I hate when there’s a band that you’ve loved and you go and see them and it’s like only the really new experimental stuff from the current album.
My mum took me to see ‘The Wizard of Oz’ when I was about three and I was blown away.
I have a very short attention span.
I do always try and do work that I’m going to be interested in talking about when it’s released.
The widespread shame of motherhood is criminal, and it needs to stop. The world can never improve if you disrespect the people that bring life.
My real life memory of leaving Uni is an overwhelming excitement to be going home but also a weird numbness.
We live in a capitalist society and if we’re talking about the people at the bottom of the food chain, it’s women of colour.
When you’re an actor, wealth is about choice.
I’ve always acted, it’s my passion and belief system.
Relief is not a word that ever enters my mind, about anything.
Episodic TV is notoriously brutal because just when you think ‘I’ve got this, I know this character’ you can pick up the script for series four and you die in the first episode – or your character suddenly transitions from a woman to a man.
If people call my book an actor’s memoir I will be very upset. I can’t bear anything too literal, so it has elements of truth and elements of fiction sitting side by side.
I don’t think there’s a part that I’ve played or something I’ve written or directed that hasn’t smacked of ‘The Wizard Of Oz.’ It’s the film all roads lead to for me.
Tennessee Williams moves my soul.
How long have we got to talk about women of colour and imposter syndrome. It’s a real thing, and many people have it. It’s, I think, a particular characteristic of the overachiever. Because you’re bottomless, you never think what you’ve achieved is enough.
I’m doing a play at Trafalgar Studios with The Jamie Lloyd Company – ‘The Maids’ by Jean Genet with Uzo Aduba and Laura Charmichael, directed by Jamie Lloyd. It’s one of my favourite plays by one of my favourite playwrights.
Patsy Ferran in Tennessee Williams’ ‘Summer and Smoke’-I thought that was just one of the most phenomenal performances I’ve seen from a young woman.
When you get to do things you love with every fiber of your being, it’s a different experience.
I love writing with pen and paper; I hate technology.
No-one tells you about being in episodic television and it ending. No-one tells you how painful it is. How bizarre it is when you’ve dedicated your life to one character for five years.
I’m just coming to terms with the fact that I will always do lots of different things and I can’t really stay in one place too long.
I’m someone who likes to explore the complexities in people.
One of the first plays I ever did was at the Royal Court Theatre in London; it was the first play I got after drama school.
I think I’ve always felt that I want to do a very specific type of work and I’ve made informed decisions. You know, hopefully be part of a quiet movement or revolution.
I’m a keen experimenter in the kitchen. With food, not with anything else!
As a woman, you do have a sense that if you can do other things, then you should. If you feel, mmm, the roles are getting a little repetitive, and you know you can write, then you should write a different role.
I used ‘Saved by the Bell: The College Years’ as my reference point really for my ‘Fresh Meat’ experience.
It’s wonderful that newer brands such as Fenty are making clear statements about being for all skin tones.
If I was someone who wanted to do just love-interest roles then I’d be in a difficult position. But thankfully I’m someone who likes to do things that are edgy and different.
If you cut me open I bleed East London.
Often when you’re working on dark material, the atmosphere is fun.
I didn’t grow up with a lot of role models necessarily when I started out – there weren’t many people who looked like me on TV. Not in England.
I do consider myself an artist.
I think anyone who has been bullied finds it life-affirming if you live to tell the tale. I just wish someone told me at school that there’s this weird average whereby if you’re not popular at school you will become popular later.
The first stage play I ever did was a school play called ‘The Wishing Chair.’
I’m not really concerned about being liked on stage – I’m a bit more concerned about it off stage.
I wanted to quit acting and as soon as I decided that, the call for ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ came through.