I'm obviously first and foremost a British filmmaker on a…

I am very happy to be part of European and world cinema as a British filmmaker.

— Mike Leigh

It was weird being a kid in the Midlands where outside everybody is white and speaks in a certain way but when you go…

— Lenny Henry

I suppose my dream was always about existing outside of London. Obviously the film world 10 years ago, when I first kicked off, was…

— Shane Meadows

I think growing up in the West Midlands helped, it was fairly chill.

— Ben Francis

I grew up in Wolverhampton, but I was moved around the Midlands because I was in the care system.

— Goldie

Growing up, I didn't feel very cool having come from the Midlands.

— Alice Lowe

I think there's a down-to-earthness with Midwesterners and with people from the Midlands - which is where my family is from - in Ireland.

— Aidan Quinn

One thing in the Middlewest: If you're in my business you're aware of the low opinion both coasts have of the midlands. And that…

— Kurt Vonnegut

It's really important to me that 'Peaky Blinders' went down so well in Birmingham. Apparently the audience share in the West Midlands was double…

— Steven Knight

The home of Rugby Union is in Twickenham - just outside London in the suburbs, where I live. I'm mad for it. The trouble…

— Alexander Hanson

If you've never lived outside London, and if you've always had a car, it's difficult to understand how dire bus services undermine your standard…

— Owen Jones

I grew up in a middle class English family just outside London. I wasn't surrounded by that speedy city lifestyle, it was a little…

— Ed Westwick

I was in a play just outside of London and started auditioning for 'Sex Education,' but I just completely had the mindset that it's…

— Ncuti Gatwa

One of my intentions is to - off the back of my success - show people outside of London that any of us can…

— Bugzy Malone

We do all of our emails and stuff during the car journey back, as we live an hour outside of London. Then when we're…

— Rochelle Humes