“My job is not to get an award. My job is to illuminate people about so...” — Renee Elise Goldsberry Quote

My job is not to get an award. My job is to illuminate people about something that they should know.

I always often say, when I was a kid, I wasn't just playing with baby dolls. I was standing in the mirror with brush in my hand as a microphone singing songs.

I'm trying to look natural and not painted. I'm typically fighting hair and makeup teams because I'm always saying, 'Can I wear less? Can I look natural and fresh?'

I'm still learning every night, with every opportunity to write something, to sing something, to perform any work. Every opportunity to do these things brings me further along the journey, and the best part is, no matter how far along I go, I have so much more to learn.

I won an award when I was 15 and my mum and dad were very proud and so was I but for me, individual things like that aren't as significant as I have been part of so much and there were weeks and months of hard work building up to those pinnacle moments and they can be full of moments of pride.

It used to hurt when people ran down my films. I used to feel inferior. I wouldn't go to parties or award functions because my cinema is not considered good enough. But now I keep my head high, and I am proud of what I am doing.

If you're not going to wear a tiara when you win a Newbery Award, when are you going to wear one?

Berlin was the first, the very first to give me an award. I am eternally grateful to them. It sits on my desk - the Silver Bear. All the others are stored away. It's the only one I look at. It watches me while I work.