Belle's Gugu Mbatha-Raw Shares Some Inspirational Advice in 'Town & Country'

Gugu Mbatha Raw looks as stunning as always on the cover of Town & Country magazine’s March 2015 issue.

Here’s what the 31-year-old Beyond the Lights star had to share with the mag:

On her style: “In my daily life it’s about being comfortable. I wear a lot of black. But now, to promote these films, I’ve been working with a stylist. I’ve had some fun Cinderella moments in red carpet land. I love the Audrey Hepburns of this world, and I think Cate Blanchett is stunning and always nails it.”

On knowing yourself: “It’s important to know that it’s okay to be your natural self. It’s also okay to dress up and wear makeup and hair extensions if you want, so long as you don’t feel like you need that or will be worthless without it. The point is, it should be a choice.”

On the roles she’s played: “Growing up and going to RADA [Royal Academy of Dramatic Art] , so many of my peers go on to do period dramas, which is what we’re known for in the U.K. And I had all this classical training but, in some ways, nowhere to put it. It was fascinating to be able to do a movie like Belle�”something period, with that Jane Austen feel, in which I wouldn’t be playing a slave or someone in a brutalized role.”

For more from Gugu, visit TownandCountryMag.com.