There's one room that is my happy place. It's a rehearsal room at the top of the Old Vic Theatre in London. It's the most beautiful room I've ever been in. The roof is just glass. There's something really inspiring about rehearsing a play and talking about creative things while seeing the blue sky - or, the rainy sky let's be honest, it is in London. But there's something about feeling so connected to those elements whilst you're creating something.
It's just my happy place. If ever I'm down I just take myself back to that rehearsal room. The people that have stood on those wooden floorboards and had discussions about character, maybe for hours, that for me is when my theatre geek truly comes alive. I love thinking about that.
I feel like Judi Dench surely was up there, she's done stuff at the Old Vic. That's mental for me. I love it! I'm someone who wants to know exactly what's in someone's mind at any given moment. I would've loved to have been a fly-on-the-wall for a Judi Dench play. I just want to know her process. What is she fascinated by? What does she struggle with?
I genuinely love the struggle. I want to play people that are really confusing, that on any given day you're like, 'I just can't connect to why she's doing these things'. That's great to me. Finding the character should be a struggle because people are so complex. I feel that in order to give them the respect that they deserve it should take you a lot of time and graft.
I never feel, 'oh cool, yep, I've got them'. That never happens. For me, it's about time. I want at least a month with someone trying to figure out who they are on my own before I go into a rehearsal room or before I'll step on a set. I want, selfishly, to sit with them for a month. To understand and genuinely put things into place and the events that happened in their life that got them from A to B I need some time alone. Only once I've done that, can I bring them into a rehearsal room and offer them up.