Quotes by Ruth Negga - Page 2

Violence in film and television is an ongoing conversation, and I like eavesdropping on it, but I'm never sure what my opinion is. I like watching creative violence, but I don't know.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Conversation
Eavesdropping
Film And Television
Ongoing
Copy Quote
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.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Muddy
Clearer
Further
Similar
Copy Quote
I've always been very talkative, very chatty, quite hyperactive. I grew up with a lot of cousins, and most of them were boys. Four in particular and I were the demolition squad. Havoc.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Havoc
Squad
Talkative
Cousins
Copy Quote
I'm always very careful to say I'm Irish-Ethiopian because I feel Ethiopian and I look Ethiopian and I am Ethiopian. But there are 81 languages in Ethiopia, and I don't know any of them.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Ethiopia
Languages
Always Look I Am
Copy Quote
I'm all for philosophical debates about race, but if you look at history, you see that the status quo has power when it's unchallenged. So these conversations about inequality are crucial.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Crucial
Inequality
Philosophical
Status Quo
Conversations
Debates
Quo
Status
Copy Quote
I know I've said it before in interviews, but the idea that all actors have their eye on some sort of prize - it being an Oscar, or fame, or whatever - not all actors I know are like that.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Prize
Copy Quote
I didn't become an actor to make money. And I didn't become an actor to be famous - though people always gasp if you say that, as if it's unfathomable that an actor doesn't want to be a star.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Unfathomable
Copy Quote
You know when you're a kid and you get to pick a movie every Friday? I watched everything. There's no particular genre that was appealing. I just loved the idea that you could dress up and play.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Friday
Genre
Appealing
Copy Quote
Diversity needs to operate on every level. It's great that the Oscars have highlighted it, but black actors getting nominated shouldn't be the only result. There's so much more that needs to be done.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Oscars
Nominated
Operate
Copy Quote
There's a pressure on actors to get somewhere before it's over. But everyone wants longevity, don't they? It's a career. Why be that flash-in-the-pan, taking every job out of worry it'll soon be over?
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Jobs
Careers
Worry
Copy Quote
The god of theater laughs in your face at planning. You can't plan as an actor; there's no way, because so much of it is dependent on other people's choices and decisions that you're at the whim of fate, really.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Dependent
Fate
Planning
Whim
Laughs
Copy Quote
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.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Ashamed
Easier
Iron
Sound
Life Myself Me
Accent
People Say
Repeat
Some People
Tendency
Copy Quote
America has a black president, but there are no black studio heads, and there just aren't that many black people working anywhere on film sets, let alone in positions of power in Hollywood. That's what needs to change.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Alone Change Power
Film Sets
Heads
Positions
Sets
Copy Quote
If people want to invade your privacy, they want to invade your privacy. I find it chilling, and I find it awful, and it makes me really nervous. It hasn't happened to me much, but when you have a taste of it, it's bitter.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Awful
Bitter
Nervous
People
Privacy
Taste
Want
Your Me People
Chilling
Me People Your
Invade
Me Privacy People
Copy Quote
My job as an artist is to speak up for those who might be perceived as the losers. Or those who can't shout. No wonder public-school people always get into politics or acting: they're taught to shout that much more loudly.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Acting
Artist
Speak
Taught
Wonder
Politics Always People
Losers
Politics People Always
No Wonder
Perceived
Shout
Copy Quote
In many ways, playing a real person is slightly easier because you have a road map. When you're playing someone fictitious, there's myriad ways in. With a real person, there's boundaries, and that sometimes makes the work easier.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Boundaries
Real Person
Fictitious
Map
Myriad
Road Map
Copy Quote
People ask me where I'm from. I say Ireland, and they are like 'Really? You don't look Irish.' Then you have to explain... people are intrigued, but sometimes you think, 'Why do I have to tell my whole story every time I open my mouth?
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Intrigued
Ireland
Time Me Look
Explain
Time Look Me
Mouth
Copy Quote
I'm not in any rush to get anywhere. There's a pressure on actors to get somewhere before it's over. But everyone wants longevity, don't they? It's a career. Why be that flash-in-the-pan, taking every job out of worry it'll soon be over?
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Longevity
Rush
Copy Quote
I had quite a scattered childhood. I was Irish in London, because I had my secondary school education there. I never really fitted anywhere. I didn't feel it was a negative thing, and I was never made to feel different - I just knew I was.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Secondary School
Fitted
Irish
Scattered
Secondary
Copy Quote
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.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Exotic
Fascination
Copy Quote
When you connect to someone on a human level, and you get to know about them, you can begin to love the things that make them different. That's when fear dissipates, and that's when we can live the life that we're all supposed to be living.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Life Love Fear
Connect
Copy Quote
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.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Human Experience
Identified
Search
Copy Quote
I think if you want to make a performance authentic, there are a certain amount of leaps of faith into the unknown that you have to take. Otherwise, you're not really risking anything. I think if you don't risk something in art, it's not really important.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Unknown
Authentic
Leaps
Risking
Copy Quote
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.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Appreciation
Dull
Involved
Lovely
Taste
Actions
Hijacked
Subject
Copy Quote
I don't believe that directors need to essentially manipulate actors into doing things. You can suffer for your art, and you can make your own self suffer for your art. You don't need anyone else to do it for you. I work best when there's a safety trampoline of kindness.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Manipulate
Safety
Anyone Else
Best Art Work
Best Work Art
Suffer
Trampoline
Copy Quote
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.'
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Assumption
Auditions
Ethiopia
Photo
Mouth
They Say
Copy Quote
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.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Career Path
Timing
Breakout
Expectation
Label
Copy Quote
Often, it's easier to play someone further away from you because it's clearer who they are. I think if you want to make a performance authentic, there are a certain amount of leaps of faith into the unknown that you have to take. Otherwise, you're not really risking anything.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Unknown
Authentic
Clearer
Further
Leaps
Risking
Copy Quote
When I was a kid in Ireland, there were not very many black people. I was very much like the strange brown thing, intriguing and cute. I didn't experience racism there. The first time I did was in London. It was that moment that you realize you're black. A kind of lifting of the veil.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Cute
First Time
Intriguing
Ireland
Lifting
London
Racism
Strange
Time Experience Moment
Veil
Copy Quote
I don't think I have ever thought of myself as a movie star. I think when I was about seven, I thought it must be lovely to have an Oscar. But the more involved you are in this business, the more that pretence disappears, and you really get to see what you love about it, and what I love is working.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Lovely
Movie Star
Pretence
What You Love
Love Business Myself
Disappears
Copy Quote
I auditioned for 'Loving' two years before we started shooting, so in the hopes that I would be playing Mildred, I watched it again. Also it's one of the best documentaries I've seen. I found this couple interminably fascinating; even if I didn't get the part, I just wanted to know more about them and their story.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Documentaries
Fascinating
Shooting
Hopes
Copy Quote
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.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
People Sometimes Way
How Many People
Pick And Choose
Copy Quote
What's really important is the people, first of all. I like working with people who are kind, above all else. I don't really want to work with someone who will manipulate me. The idea that you must treat actors a certain way in order to get a performance out of them kind of disturbs me, and it's disregarding what we do. Our job is to do our job.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Manipulate
Work Me Important
Certain Way
First Of All
Copy Quote
Ninety percent of my roles, I've had to fight for. It's only a really small percentage of people who get handed roles. But that can be quite scary. 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 enjoy seeing what the chemistry is between the people you might be working with.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Character
Fighting
People
Copy Quote
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.' They want to put you in a box in LA, that's how they tend to do it there, so if you don't fit in that box, it makes it more difficult.
Ruth Negga / Film Actress
Mouths
Thinking
Want
Copy Quote

Related Film Actress Authors

Zulay Henao
Film Actress
Tuesday, May 29, 1979
Zohra Sehgal
Film Actress
Saturday, Apr 27, 1912
Thursday, Jul 10, 2014
Zoey Deutch
Film Actress
Thursday, Nov 10, 1994
Zoe Tapper
Film Actress
Monday, Oct 26, 1981
Zoe Kazan
Film Actress
Friday, Sep 09, 1983
Zhou Xun
Film Actress
Friday, Oct 18, 1974
Zhang Ziyi
Film Actress
Friday, Feb 09, 1979
Zeenat Aman
Film Actress
Monday, Nov 19, 1951
Yvonne De Carlo
Film Actress
Friday, Sep 01, 1922
Monday, Jan 08, 2007
Yunjin Kim
Film Actress
Wednesday, Nov 07, 1973
Yang Mi
Film Actress
Friday, Sep 12, 1986
Willow Shields
Film Actress
Thursday, Jun 01, 2000
Wendy Hiller
Film Actress
Thursday, Aug 15, 1912
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Wendi Mclendon-Covey
Film Actress
Friday, Oct 10, 1969
Vivien Leigh
Film Actress
Wednesday, Nov 05, 1913
Saturday, Jul 08, 1967

View All Film Actress Quotes

Top Authors

Epictetus
Philosopher
Zig Ziglar
Author
Saturday, Nov 06, 1926
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012
Julius Caesar
Roman Dictator
Thursday, Jan 01, 1970
Mother Teresa
Saint
Friday, Aug 26, 1910
Friday, Sep 05, 1997
Will Rogers
Actor
Tuesday, Nov 04, 1879
Thursday, Aug 15, 1935
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Civil Rights Activist
Tuesday, Jan 15, 1929
Thursday, Apr 04, 1968
Heraclitus
Philosopher
Thursday, Jan 01, 1970
Thursday, Jan 01, 1970
Francis Of Assisi
Saint
Thursday, Jun 24, 1182
Saturday, Oct 03, 1226
Carl Sagan
Astronomer
Friday, Nov 09, 1934
Friday, Dec 20, 1996
Dr. Seuss
Writer
Wednesday, Mar 02, 1904
Tuesday, Sep 24, 1991
Thomas Aquinas
Priest
Tuesday, Jan 28, 1225
Wednesday, Mar 07, 1274
Aldous Huxley
Writer
Thursday, Jul 26, 1894
Friday, Nov 22, 1963
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Philosopher
Henry David Thoreau
Author
Saturday, Jul 12, 1817
Tuesday, May 06, 1862
W. Edwards Deming
Statistician
Sunday, Oct 14, 1900
Monday, Dec 20, 1993

View All Authors

Ruth Negga Quotes - Page 2

App & Tools

Related Film Actress Authors

Popular Topic Tags

Top Authors

Share This Page

Stay Connected

App & Tools

Related Film Actress Authors

Popular Topic Tags

Top Authors

Share This Page