In an exclusive interview with Principle, the London-born actor opens up about working on How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the pressure he felt, his return to the stage, and where he hopes his career will take him next.

Full look Ami

How are you doing?

Hello, I’m good.

How’s the new year been?

It’s good, yeah, I’m good. I’m really excited about this year. I feel like last year was kind of a tricky one. I had a lot of things going on last year, which were kind of difficult, but this year I feel really good. I think it started well. There’s a good momentum to it, I feel. So yeah, I’m really optimistic.

Did you have a big New Year’s Eve plan that kickstarted it, or just a feeling you’re getting?

I don’t really take note of the year. I don’t do things by that; I kind of just roll with it. But last year was the first time I genuinely was like, “All right, this year I want to track what happens over the year.” So I was kind of excited for it to come to an end, to start again this year, and get into it. I feel like, like I said before, it would sort of just roll on, but I feel like I really am intentional in what I want to do this year.

Top Saint Laurent via Designer Exchange

You’re in a new show called How to Get to Heaven from Belfast. What was the initial process for getting involved in that?

Initially, we got the tape sent across, and the breakdown just looked so incredible. Obviously, I saw that it was Lisa McGee, who famously did Derry Girls and loads of other really funny shows. So yeah, it was a non-negotiable. I had to throw everything at it, and luckily, I was successful with the self-tape and then in person. We got to the recall process, and it was interesting because, when I read it at home, Lisa’s writing is so funny in the look or the timing, you know what I mean? It’s not formatively funny at all. It’s very well crafted. So when you’re sitting at home reading it, it’s a completely different thing from when reading it in the room. When I was reading it in the room, I realised just how funny it is and how it bounces off the different characters. I was able to run with that in mind. It was such a great process. They’re all so welcoming and nice. They are a team that has worked together so tightly before; it all just gelled perfectly.

As you mentioned, the show’s creator is Lisa McGee. What was working with her like?

She’s got this clarity that I don’t really quite understand. Like, it’s on a different level! The story itself is so complicated and intertwined, and there are so many moving parts. Sometimes I’d be on set, and I’d watch her edit the story, but still account for the knock-on effect of what that would mean. Her ability to keep it all in her mind while changing things was something I’ve never seen before. I was reading the scripts, kind of being like, “Okay, this is a lot… I need to do a lot of writing down… I need to make sure I’m on top of this journey and everything…” But she just could pluck things out, genius-level stuff.

Coat and tank N N07 / Trouser Ami

There are twists and turns in this show. Was there ever a moment you tried solving any of the mystery as the script rolled out, or did you play along and let it be a surprise?

I had theories and ideas of where I would want it to go. I’d speak to Lisa, and she’d be like, “Okay, this is the general vibe or general direction we’re heading in.” But she’d kind of keep things hush. I guess she was kind of crafting it, like she didn’t need alternate stories flowing around. There was a moment someone in the cast played a little prank on me because he was like, “Oh, I’ve got these new scripts and… I’m sorry, man…” And I was like, “What?” And he was like, “Yeah, sorry, man… you’re dead.” And I was like, “What?!” Turned out not be the case. It got me for a while. It was a lot of smoke and mirrors.

She had such success with Derry Girls. Did you feel any pressure while entering this project?

I suppose, yeah, in a way. With anything, obviously, I want to do my best. It’s a different thing to be funny. Obviously, as an actor, the instinct is to be dramatic or whatever comes more easily. Maybe we’re less insecure about that for some reason. Being funny is such a skill, and it can’t be performed. It’s got to be understood and done in a genuine way. Like, when you say something funny, you’re seldom saying it for a laugh; you’re just doing it because that’s your reality at the time, and that’s something I had to work on set. It was fun, a laugh.

Full look Ami

How was your time filming in the North of Ireland? Any fun stories or good memories made there? You mentioned some pranks.

The North of Ireland is so beautiful. It’s stunning. It’s breathtaking. Most places you go are absolutely beautiful. There’s only so much city in the North of Ireland; you don’t have to go too far to get rural areas. When I first got there, before we started shooting, I decided to go to a national park nearby. I can’t remember what it was called, but I went there and went on this long walk, and I wanted to get lost. I wanted to try to lose the trail. I ended up in this field with this massive tree in the middle, and I sat down and tried to draw the landscape that I saw. It was such a nice moment. I feel like it was a good way to really feel the geography of the place. It was nice to kind of get entrenched in the nature of the place. It’s very different from London, obviously, like, the breeze feels different.

You live in London but have Irish roots. How did it feel to bring those out and be around a set of fantastic Irish actors?

I felt really privileged. They really welcomed me. They didn’t treat me like the English boy; they treated me how my aunties would, or how my mum would, or how my cousins would, you know. I never knew what my Irish heritage would mean in my career. I don’t know if it would ever have any influence or if I’d ever end up doing an Irish role. So to be able to do so early on in my career, it’s such a blessing. I had all my aunties helping me with the lines. It was really nice. They were like editing the script: “No, she wouldn’t say that. She’d say…” You know what I mean? I was like, “I think she’s got it, guys, but thanks.”

Coat and tank N N07 / Trouser Ami

Did you learn anything new about yourself in that process or about your heritage?

Yeah, to be honest, that place is rich with history and culture, and you’ll never meet an Irish person who’s shy about being Irish. They’re very proud people. I would like to think some of that rubbed off on me. The way I grew up was very multicultural anyway. I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily English. I wouldn’t necessarily say Jamaican. I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m Irish. I’m an amalgamation of all of them. Being there for so long and hearing some of the stories that people told me just made me really proud in a different way. One I wouldn’t have connected with if I hadn’t gone there.

Now, you’ve done a mix of work from stage to TV. Is there one you prefer more?

That’s tricky. I think they’re both good in different ways. I think performing on stage is like one of the most exhilarating things you can do as an actor. It’s just you and the people. It’s immediate. You can feel when a room is listening to you, and you can feel when maybe they might not be. There’s something honest about that which I really appreciate. But on the flip side, with TV and film, it’s a whole other kind of machine for curating art. There are so many different aspects to it that, as an actor, you kind of have to take into consideration, which only broadens your horizons. I feel like with TV and film, there’s a certain nuance that you can portray which you can’t do for stage. There’s a subtlety and a real honesty as well in TV and film, which I enjoy a lot.

Lisa [McGee] always has an amazing soundtrack with her projects. If you had a soundtrack for your life, what five songs would be on it?

Oh my gosh! That’s such a good question! There’s got to be a Frank Ocean song in there, so I would probably say “Nights” by Frank Ocean. I would say “Weird Fishes” by Radiohead, “Easy Easy” by King Krule, John Redcorn’s “SiR”, and “CHERIMOYA” by Jordan Ward.

Full look Feng Chen Wang

Anything you have coming up that you’re able to share?

Aside from How to Get to Heaven from Belfast dropping, I’m going to be in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre in March. I’ll be playing Chevalier Danceny. I have the Heartstopper film coming out in the summertime, I think? So yeah, just that for the time being. It feels like we’re hitting a pinnacle this year.

Is there anything you want to see from your career this year? Any projects you really want to touch on?

Do you know what it is? I think there are so many things I would love to play that it’s hard to choose one. I’d love to do a romantic film. I’d love to do a drama. I’d love to do a comedy. I’d love to do a thriller. There’s so much yet to really explore in my career. Any one of them would be amazing and an opportunity to stretch myself as an actor, which is ultimately always what I’m looking for.

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast arrives on Netflix on 12^th February.

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