8 December 2006

What are you up to at the moment?

I’m rehearsing a Harold Pinter play called ‘Landscape’ where I play a woman called Beth. It’s being staged at Central St. Martin’s during January. I’m also auditioning for other things and working on a solo piece I co-created with a theatre director.

What excites you about being an actress?

I think it’s the potential of telling stories and telling them well – well enough to move people, to change people, to create a greater understanding of our lives and society. Also, I enjoy challenging myself. When you challenge yourself and you overcome that challenge, you have more knowledge, you’re different. If you stay with what you know, you never change as a person.

What or who has helped you get where you currently are?

At the beginning, my mother was a great support. I had been a professional dancer but it wasn’t enough for me – I needed a greater challenge. I had always wanted to act and my mum was very encouraging. My friends have also been a great support. And professionally, the theatre director Max Stafford-Clark was been a great help. He employed me straight after drama school.

What do you want to achieve as an actress?

It’s not about fame and fortune! I just want to work on as many projects as possible. And get bigger parts! The most important thing to me is to be respected by my peers and by the audience. There are many actors who have a constant flow of work where it’s not about being on the front pages – they know the quality of their work is of a high standard and I’d be happy if that’s what I achieve.

What is your most memorable part to date?

In ‘The Overwhelming’. The play is set two weeks before the Rwandan genocide in 1994. It’s extremely moving and asks many questions about the state of humanity at present and what we can really achieve in terms of change. I played a girl called Emeritha who was of Tutsi origin. She befriends a white American boy and gets killed because of that friendship. There were times when I thought ‘I can’t do this’. The death scene was difficult – gagged and dragged off stage. Doing that every night was tough. When you’re performing a role, you’re just focused within it and it’s only afterwards where you can take stock and get satisfaction from what you did.

Is there a character you would particularly love to play?

I’d love to play Puck in Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. It’s not traditionally a female role but it can be. I love the potential physically of the role – particularly as I come from a dance background. There’s also a play called ‘Raisin in the Sun’ by Lorraine Hansbury. It’s set in 1950s Harlem and focuses on a black family trying to fulfil their dreams. There is a daughter who is working to become a doctor. She is very intellectual and is struggling with what she can achieve in 1950s America and whether it is worth having such dreams.