Page 1 10 The JOURNAL Lincolnshire The JOURNAL Lincolnshire 11
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liza Butterworth was just 17 when she stepped on to the stage to audition for a place at RADA – the most famous drama school in the world.
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10
The JOURNAL Lincolnshire
CoverStars
By Anne Hall
This autumn, just a year after graduating and still only 21, she will star alongside the likes of Rutger Hauer and David Dawson in BBC Two’s new epic historical drama The Last Kingdom, based on Bernard Cornwell’s best-selling series of novels The Saxon Stories. Back in Lincoln briefly after filming, Eliza reflects on her journey from a stage at Lincoln Minster School to working on location with a prestigious BBC television drama. “It all started with a Joyce Grenfell sketch, which I did at school when I was 14,” laughs Eliza, almost not believing it herself. “I had no idea who Joyce Grenfell was, it was my first performance and I was terrified!” Like a true professional she found out all she could about the legendary actress, watched her films and practised the voice and mannerisms until she drove everyone mad – but her hard work paid off. “On the night, people just fell about laughing every time I opened my mouth. It gave me such a buzz to realise I could do that, it lit a touch paper for me – I was hungry for more.” Eliza has what’s called ‘presence’ by the bucket load, but there’s not a hint of pretension about her, just a razor-sharp wit, some pretty impressive accents and a refreshing honesty about how much she still has to learn. Before she went off to RADA just after her 18th birthday, Eliza had always lived in the same house in Lincoln with her mum and dad. “I don’t come from a family of actors and my parents were never pushy, but their personalities are larger than life so being around them meant acting and performing came very naturally. “My mother is Italian American and a very dramatic woman. She’s fabulous, like the Joan Rivers of Lincolnshire,” declares Eliza proudly, waving her arms around and demonstrating her show-stopping American accent. It’s hard to believe that Eliza once had plans to be a dentist. “I was in denial about acting as a career until much later. “Luckily, my drama teachers weren’t and they persuaded me to apply and then supported me throughout RADA’s demanding interview process. “I was very malleable and I’d only been in three school plays so I didn’t really know a lot, I just knew I wanted to be there. But RADA likes that rawness and the potential of someone with imagination.” RADA was very proactive in terms of steering students towards
Eliza’s autumn is going to be epic Lincoln actress reflects on her rise from a school play to starring in BBC Two’s new drama The Lost Kingdom
the right agent and during Eliza’s final year they invited agents and casting directors from all the bigname theatres to watch them perform. Her obvious talent was spotted early on by a top London agent – no mean feat for any young actor. The agent followed her performances throughout the year and offered to represent Eliza when she graduated. Her agent wasted no time in sending her scripts and she’s already starred in DCI Banks and a BBC police drama, WPC56. Eliza quickly learned that acting for film and television is completely different from acting for the theatre. “Theatre is larger than life and that’s what I was trained to do, so at first it was a bit of a shock to have to scale my performances down for television.” She had plenty of help from RADA’s head of film and fellow actors on location. “They were so supportive because they’d been through it – they advised and encouraged me and I picked up on their energy and it just worked.” Eliza was busy working on WPC56 while she was auditioning for The Last Kingdom and when she
You can now subscribe to The Journal. Call 0844 4060922
‘‘
To have this kind of opportunity so early in my career has been an incredibly valuable learning experience
heard she’d been cast as Aelswith, King Alfred’s wife, she couldn’t believe her luck. “To have this kind of opportunity so early in my career has been an incredibly valuable learning experience. All that high-calibre professionalism at work on location was inspiring.” The Last Kingdom will be on our screens in the autumn and although Eliza can hardly conceal her excitement, she’s giving nothing away and taps her nose, mischievously, laughing. “All I’m saying is don’t you dare miss it!”
The JOURNAL Lincolnshire
11
E
liza Butterworth was just 17 when she stepped on to the stage to audition for a place at RADA – the most famous drama school in the world.
’ ’
10
The JOURNAL Lincolnshire
CoverStars
By Anne Hall
This autumn, just a year after graduating and still only 21, she will star alongside the likes of Rutger Hauer and David Dawson in BBC Two’s new epic historical drama The Last Kingdom, based on Bernard Cornwell’s best-selling series of novels The Saxon Stories. Back in Lincoln briefly after filming, Eliza reflects on her journey from a stage at Lincoln Minster School to working on location with a prestigious BBC television drama. “It all started with a Joyce Grenfell sketch, which I did at school when I was 14,” laughs Eliza, almost not believing it herself. “I had no idea who Joyce Grenfell was, it was my first performance and I was terrified!” Like a true professional she found out all she could about the legendary actress, watched her films and practised the voice and mannerisms until she drove everyone mad – but her hard work paid off. “On the night, people just fell about laughing every time I opened my mouth. It gave me such a buzz to realise I could do that, it lit a touch paper for me – I was hungry for more.” Eliza has what’s called ‘presence’ by the bucket load, but there’s not a hint of pretension about her, just a razor-sharp wit, some pretty impressive accents and a refreshing honesty about how much she still has to learn. Before she went off to RADA just after her 18th birthday, Eliza had always lived in the same house in Lincoln with her mum and dad. “I don’t come from a family of actors and my parents were never pushy, but their personalities are larger than life so being around them meant acting and performing came very naturally. “My mother is Italian American and a very dramatic woman. She’s fabulous, like the Joan Rivers of Lincolnshire,” declares Eliza proudly, waving her arms around and demonstrating her show-stopping American accent. It’s hard to believe that Eliza once had plans to be a dentist. “I was in denial about acting as a career until much later. “Luckily, my drama teachers weren’t and they persuaded me to apply and then supported me throughout RADA’s demanding interview process. “I was very malleable and I’d only been in three school plays so I didn’t really know a lot, I just knew I wanted to be there. But RADA likes that rawness and the potential of someone with imagination.” RADA was very proactive in terms of steering students towards
Eliza’s autumn is going to be epic Lincoln actress reflects on her rise from a school play to starring in BBC Two’s new drama The Lost Kingdom
the right agent and during Eliza’s final year they invited agents and casting directors from all the bigname theatres to watch them perform. Her obvious talent was spotted early on by a top London agent – no mean feat for any young actor. The agent followed her performances throughout the year and offered to represent Eliza when she graduated. Her agent wasted no time in sending her scripts and she’s already starred in DCI Banks and a BBC police drama, WPC56. Eliza quickly learned that acting for film and television is completely different from acting for the theatre. “Theatre is larger than life and that’s what I was trained to do, so at first it was a bit of a shock to have to scale my performances down for television.” She had plenty of help from RADA’s head of film and fellow actors on location. “They were so supportive because they’d been through it – they advised and encouraged me and I picked up on their energy and it just worked.” Eliza was busy working on WPC56 while she was auditioning for The Last Kingdom and when she
You can now subscribe to The Journal. Call 0844 4060922
‘‘
To have this kind of opportunity so early in my career has been an incredibly valuable learning experience
heard she’d been cast as Aelswith, King Alfred’s wife, she couldn’t believe her luck. “To have this kind of opportunity so early in my career has been an incredibly valuable learning experience. All that high-calibre professionalism at work on location was inspiring.” The Last Kingdom will be on our screens in the autumn and although Eliza can hardly conceal her excitement, she’s giving nothing away and taps her nose, mischievously, laughing. “All I’m saying is don’t you dare miss it!”
The JOURNAL Lincolnshire
11
