Marli, what on earth was it like to be named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow? Does something like that help with self-confidence, or is it a bit of a pressure?
When I got that in 2018, it made such a difference because I hadn’t gone to drama school. It’s hard to get seen for stuff when you’ve not really gone down a more traditional route into the industry. And I think the people at Screen Daily are brilliant in the way they look out for and find talent everywhere. They’re so respected in the industry that being on that list suddenly meant that I got auditions for things I hadn’t previously. I met casting directors I hadn’t met before. So it was a huge help having other people feel confident in bringing me into a room and a definitely confidence for myself as well. You feel like, “Okay, I must be doing something okay!”
I’d always looked at those lists in the past because I admired loads of the actors that had been on them. So it was both a huge excitement to be on a list with names like that but also, I guess [I felt] a little bit nervous because they all went on to do amazing things. I think that pressure is also relevant. You just have to be like, “Well, everyone’s career is different.”
There are accolades and awards that have already come your way, so you’re definitely doing something right! What does it look like for you to get into character, and what about getting back out again?
I used to read lots of interviews with actors because I was interested in how they did it. Again, they had done drama school, and I wasn’t totally sure how you were really meant to do it and if there was a right way and a wrong way. And then, I really got into Carey Mulligan because I really liked her and An Education. And she talked about making books with pictures and notes, filling up notebooks with certain character profiles. If I get a job or even actually at the audition stage, I now use Pinterest for it more, but before, I used to use notebooks. And once I get a job, I fill up a notebook with ideas, depending on the character. Like for Nell, because she’s a teacher, I got a little line jotter, and I wrote about her. It wasn’t so much like writing about school, but it kind of felt within the style of who she was.
And then getting out… For things like Alex Rider, when there’s a character who has an accent and dresses very different to me, then it’s quite easy, because it’s really just take off a costume and stop doing the accent, and it’s very very separate. With Nell in Everything I Know About Love, I’m doing my own accent. And yeah, Dolly was so encouraging of us bringing parts of ourself to the characters, but it wasn’t a particularly heavy character. There are times when I think you take a little bit from characters at the end of the job.
Were there were any reference points where you and Nell had anything in common, anything that you were able to pull on directly?
Well, she’s from Scotland, and she’s mixed-race. So I was like, “That’s me!” I did make an active effort to try and imagine her family and their jobs and where they grew up and it being a different town to where I grew up. So I guess a similar upbringing. … Within a friendship group, I don’t think we have loads in common. I think Nell’s definitely—from the scripts and when I first got the audition in the description that Dolly gave—someone I wish I was like. She’s very straight-talking. She’s not a people-pleaser. She seems really clear on who she is. So that feels quite different to me. But it’s funny. The girls—Emma [Appleton] and Bel [Powley]—would be like, “That’s a very Nell thing” if I would be like, “I don’t want to do that.” Like I hate karaoke. I probably have more in common [with Nell] than I realised. And again, when you’re playing a character, you lean into those parts of your own personality.
