Chiwetel Ejiofor

I became an actor by doing school plays and youth theaters, and then National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. And then I did study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. For me that was a good way to enter the field, to work in the theater. ”

I'd never really considered film. If I'd thought about film more growing up, I probably would have changed my name. I had no concept of my name in lights. ”

Dividing everybody into genders and sexuality and races and religions, and I think it's important to have films out there, to have discussions out there which really try to get to grips with where that kind of thing can lead. ”

I've always liked the idea of being a father. And I've always romanticised it, because I lost my father when I was young. In a way, all of the complications that come with my career are about that. ”

The inherited tradition is that we don't tell stories about slavery from the perspective of the slave. It's told through the president or the lawyer. ”

I was the classic middle child in some ways, the one who could have been a priest in an alternate universe. ”

Normally, if you're lucky, the idea of a film you have in your head is more or less what you get back when you see it after the editing and the whole post-production process. ”

Depending on what your interest in theater is, I always recommend working on plays. It's a great way to be introduced to the field, and also a great way to be seen by agents and representation. I'm also a great advocate for studying acting at a drama school or a college. ”

Different people approach the universe in different ways, but they also approach their own expectations in different ways. ”

There are many different ways the public can respond to actors - they can see you on TV and feel they know you and own you, and there can be something quite cornering about that. ”