Watched C4’s police drama Babylon and wondered who’s that girl? Well, she’s super talented, very gorgeous and a total indie phenomenon in the States. And here’s what else you need to know - in her own words...
She started writing herself parts because there weren’t any others. ‘I’d read scripts and be like, “I don’t want to be a part of that”. If women are in a scene together alone, they’re talking about men. I don’t like this job so much that I’m willing to continue to shape the way women are seen. Look at Lena Dunham, Kristen Wiig and Amy Poehler – these women are just like, fuck it, we’re just going to write.’
The first film she wrote was a big indie hit at Sundance Festival. ‘It’s hard to do something when everyone is telling you, you can’t do it and you partially believe you can’t. I was writing Another Earth in the morning and Sound of My Voice in the afternoon, as well as working odd jobs. There’s too much doubt and anxiety to not give yourself a part, even if it’s just a street sweeper.’
She turned down a city job to follow her dream. ‘I’ve no regrets of turning down a Goldman Sachs job. Even when I’ve been very broke. Financial poverty is nothing next to emotional poverty. If my daughter called me after getting a degree in Economics to say she was moving to LA to become an actress (like I did), I’d be like, “you’re fired, I disown you!”’
She’s a super loyal friend. ‘People are formed by the relationships they have. I was lucky to start out with my two best friends (fellow directors and writers) Mike Cahill and Zal Batmanglij; it was an incubator of love and encouragement when everyone else thought we’d lost our minds.’
She’s totally converted to the UK. ‘I actually prefer acting in something I haven’t written. (For Babylon) I flew to the UK not having slept and went straight into the first reading. It was so funny, it was like the chairs disappeared and we were in an amphitheatre. I’m obsessed with British TV. Always have been.’
She knows what she wants. ‘I want to do something sexual next. I’m so curious to play a role where a woman is a very sexual creature but isn’t a victim. We, as women, don’t know how to navigate that space yet and it’s because storytelling hasn’t given us any good guidelines, so that’s what I would like to find.’
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