“This is always the hardest question! It feels like you have to make yourself understood in such a short space of time, and I feel weird boxing myself into one specific idea of ‘me’ so this is really hard and I have been trying to write it for a long time. But here goes! I’m from Peckham and I grew up in Peterborough, I lived in Bristol for a while and did a lot of music, mainly song writing, and then came back to London for LAMDA! I have never ever left the UK, but I would really like to travel all over the world, my family are from Malawi so I would ideally start there because I think a person’s geography is so interesting and says so much about them, especially when you get older and live in the places you choose.”
What kind of actor do you aspire to be?
Honest and consistent. An actor that is always growing with each role. I’d like to be surprised with what each character brings to me, that’s a really cool feeling.
What performance piece did you choose for the showcase and why?
I chose a monologue from Patient Light, by Simon Longman. It was actually written about growing up in Peterborough, my hometown! Commissioned by a theatre company there, and when I found it, I really recognised myself in it, I added some parts to it, and it just feels like a side of me that I can show!
What book, theatre, film or TV production has most inspired you?
I’m watching Skins for the first time! I love it! So many actors from that show have gone on to have amazing careers in the industry. It’s so fun seeing them in retrospect and how much they’ve grown up, kind of like looking through someone’s baby pictures. I first knew Daniel Kaluuya from Get Out, so seeing him play Kenneth on Skins was jokes, I didn’t even know he was in it
How do you keep creative during?
I feel like all of my personal creative projects start with journaling, whether it’s a painting I want to do, a song I want to write, or a script. It always starts with journals, my mum kept a lot of them and was always writing before bed, so that’s probably why it’s always been something I have done not necessarily intentionally, but just out of habit.
What is the dream role you’d love to play?
I have always wanted to play Sephy from Noughts and Crosses! Or a companion in Dr Who, or Juliet which I have played before, but I really love the role and love seeing black girls play light-hearted, free-spirited, emotional, untroubled (until the end) characters, and not just characters that are struggling, burdened and ‘strong’. Even though that’s important to see sometimes, I think it’s also important that isn’t the only narrative seen.
What do you hope to be doing this time next year?
I have a mood board on Pinterest called ‘crystal ball’, so that I can envision next year.
I would hope that I am still living in London, script and highlighter in hand, making a character playlist, and preparing for a project that I am really excited about!