Gemma Chan On Freeing Yourself From Expectation & Why She's Still Holding Out Hope For Change In UK Politics

In her eleven-year acting career, Gemma Chan has played everything from blue-skinned aliens to Elizabethan aristocrats, and mixed homegrown British dramas with huge Hollywood blockbusters. Her latest project, I Am Hannah, is one of a new trio of Dominic Savage films airing on Channel 4. Each is led by a different British actor, the other two being Vicky McClure and Samantha Morton, and focuses on a different element of their characters' lives, from coercive relationships to desperate financial hardship, and the pressure on women to have children.

Like the other two I Am lead actors, Chan is carving out a fascinating career for herself. But it's not just in the acting business where her voice commands attention. As well as being outspoken on representation and inclusion within the industry, she has plenty of thoughts to share about the current state of British politics, and is committed to acting on what she believes in, not just talking about it, as her work with charity UNICEF shows.

I spoke to Chan Ahead of I Am Hannah's air date about the brilliance of British TV, her interest in exploring what others dismiss about women's experiences, and the Conservative leadership election.

Aimée Grant Cumberbatch: I've just watched your I Am film. It was fascinating. Yours focuses on a woman called Hannah. What parts of Hannah's story did you identify with?

Gemma Chan: Well I suppose I should say that Hannah's story isn't autobiographical. I haven't been through exactly what Hannah's been through. Thankfully I haven't been on the series of ghastly dates that she's been on. But in terms of the story it's definitely been inspired by conversations that I've with a lot of my female friends with my family.

Hannah's story is about a woman trying to free herself from expectation. And that expectation comes from the external. But also it's about her internal expectations of herself as well.

AGC: Watching it, I felt like parts of it felt quite suffocating. I felt like the there was a real sense of that kind of weight of expectation. Of the other people not giving her room to figure out what she wanted, which is definitely something that I've personally experienced when it comes to things like having children. What was it like to grapple with that?

GC: I was really excited to show a character that was still trying to figure out what she wanted. For some people, things are black and white, but for most of the people that I know, it's shades of grey and there is ambiguity there.

I think there's definitely an element of it, particularly for women, You know, when they hit their 30s [there's a lot of] "Gosh, Well, have you done this? Have you done that? Are you going to run out of time?" That pressure, or feeling of pressure, can build. People always feel very willing to ask and offer up their opinion of what you should be doing, rather than either minding their own business or allowing each person to discover what they want. I wanted to show what she's going through in a really non-judgmental way. I hope that anyone watching it can feel empathy for her. You may not agree with everything that she does and her opinions, necessarily. But I think we can be quite harsh on ourselves and quite judgmental about others. That's the only thing I would want people to come away with is to maybe be a little bit less judgmental.

AGC: When I read about I Am Hannah, I had preconceptions that were quite clear cut, and then to go into it and have all that ambiguity, I think it shows there's always so much going on inside other people's lives that you don't realise. It's so easy to say, "Oh, I just think this about relationships. I think this about children" but it's never really quite like that in real life.

GC: What's become more and more apparent to me is there are there are lots of different ways to live your life, different ways that people can be happy. And what's right for one person isn't necessarily right for another. We should be much more accepting of that. I don't know whether you heard about Professor Paul Dolan. He was talking about how, in his research, he found evidence that single childless women actually ranked really highly in terms of their happiness. [But he found that] people were really suspicious [of his research], or they got defensive, or they couldn't accept that that particular group of women [do] flourish.

That's not to say that it's right for every woman and that's also not to say that people in couples or in relationships aren't happy either, or [people] with children. But it shows that there are lots of different ways that people can be happy. I think we do have more choice now, but I think it's an ongoing adjustment for each of us individually and society more broadly.

AGC: What I found interesting about that research is how it reframed the notion of women who might be single and might not have children as a legitimate way of life that people might actually want to choose.

GC: I think it's interesting [with] women who haven't married or haven't had kids. In the past, they've very much been either regarded with with pity or with suspicion. It's a completely legitimate choice and, again, not necessarily right for every person. I think he said something interesting like: the reason we get defensive is because when we see that someone else has made a different choice from us, if they appear to be happy, we somehow feel that that's a personal judgment on our own choices. I think that we need to get over that defensiveness. It's not a zero sum game.

AGC: They're not in your film, but Samantha Morton and Vicky McClure are heading up their own I Am films as part of the series. How does it feel to be involved in a project where three women are in these three lead roles, telling their own individual stories, with a strong focus on them and their interiority?

GC: It feels really exciting. I was thrilled to be involved with a project [where] each story has been developed in conjunction with each of the lead actresses. Women [are] half the human race, you know. There's so much there that's interesting that hasn't been necessarily been the focus or certainly hasn't been the main focus of projects before, whether we're talking about film or TV.

I feel really, really glad that it seems to be happening more and that people are developing these stories. I'm reading Three Women [by Lisa Tadeo], which, again, is three women at the centre. It's very much about exploring their lives and their desires. I find that really fascinating.

AGC: That's what I found interesting watching the film. It's about making space for these stories. I think sometimes you hear a lot about the extremes of women's experiences — the shocking, the graphic, or the violent. But I think it's nice for space to be made for the grey areas that you referred to.

GC: The everyday. People can be a dismissive of the everyday experiences of life from a woman's perspective. It might be seen as a small story. [But] I think it's incredibly rich and interesting to go there and to probe. As you say, we often include the extremes but it's a vast, vast spectrum of experience that's there.

AGC: This is a homegrown project with lots of British talent, but you've also worked on major Hollywood blockbusters as well, like Crazy Rich Asians and Captain Marvel. How do they compare?

GC: It's incredibly different. Captain Marvel actually was the last project I'd done before I came back to the UK and filmed I Am Hannah. And you probably can't get two much more extremes. It felt really great to come back and do something that was really intimate with a very small crew.

I'd come from another project, which was, you know, hundreds and hundreds of people, huge sets, I'd been painted blue for six hours every day. So it was was really refreshing to do something on the complete other end of the scale.

British TV is where I cut my teeth, that's where I learned a lot of what I know. That's always something that British TV does that's brilliant and is really unique. I don't know if I'd see a project like this on a big American network or one of the big streamers. It feels like something that British TV can do and does do really well.

AGC: You move between lots of different kinds of roles, whether it's ordinary women, historical figures, or aliens and robots. Do you feel like that, as the industry is developing and changing, and hopefully progressing, that you're more able to carve out the career that suits as opposed to kind of going along with what traditionally might have been expected?

GC: I think, definitely things have shifted and I now have, actors in general and actors of colour, have more opportunities. It's still not easy by any means. But I think I think it's great we're now getting more of a chance to develop these stories and be part of the creative process from an earlier stage, or [even] finding the stories that we want, and then developing them and getting them to screen. It's really exciting because it's not always been that way.

AGC: I imagine you must get asked about diversity and representation in pretty much every interview, but do you feel that the traditional absence of diversity in casting means that actors of colour who do succeed often become spokespeople for diversity, whether or not they want to? And is that something that can be frustrating?

GC: I do get asked about it a lot. On the one hand, I think it's important to be moving the conversation forward. But on the other hand, it will be great when we no longer have to talk about it and it's not a thing. When it's just accepted. I hope that day isn't too far off.

AGC: You've been quite vocal about your frustrations with the current state of UK politics. And I imagine that frustration has only deepened in recent weeks [with the Conservative leadership election]. What are your thoughts and feelings on that at the moment?

GC: It's not even our choice. We don't get a say in who our next Prime Minister is. It's a very small portion of people who are Conservative Party members who get to choose. And, as we know, they are from a very limited demographic, which isn't representative necessarily of the whole country. So it doesn't feel great. I guess we just have to see in the next few months how things pan out. I'm still hopeful that things won't be a complete disaster. [But] it's incredibly frustrating. I think there are a lot of talented people out there who want to help, people who actually really need a government that's working for them. But they seem to be drowned out by more extreme voices and I'm talking about both the the Conservative and the Labour party. It's tough.

Originally published on Bustle UK

'Pure' Star Charly Clive On Learning About OCD & Feeling Lost In London

Imagine if your mind wasn't your own. But was at any moment vulnerable to an assault of intrusive, irrational thoughts, and images of a sexual nature. Whether it's visions of your family members doing explicit things, fellow Tube-goers getting it on in a crowded carriage, or your new boss standing totally naked in the lift next to you. Well Marnie, the protagonist of new Channel 4 comedy Pure, doesn't have to imagine.

Marnie has Pure O, a type of OCD characterised by intrusive thoughts that can relate to everything from self-esteem and sexuality, to relationships and responsibility. But unlike the physical form of OCD with which most of us are familiar, as OCD UK notes, the compulsions performed by those with Pure O aren't visible to others.

The character is played by Charly Clive, and the Channel 4 drama is her breakout role. Before she was an unknown comedic actor creating videos with her best friend online. As the Guardian reports, it was these videos that led to her discovery by Pure's producer Jen Kenwood. She talked to me about her experiences learning about Pure O and seeing the world through Marnie's eyes.

She says her best resource for understanding the condition was Rose Cartwright, who provides the inspiration for the character of Marnie. Pure is based on Cartwright's memoir of the same name about her experiences as a young women living, working, and travelling all while dealing with Pure O.

Clive explains, "The circumstance of the condition and the character is based on the memoir. I felt definitely some responsibility to the condition, to portray someone with Pure O as authentically as I could. I was very lucky because I got to have a personal relationship with Rose Cartwright, who wrote the book, so I was able to ask for guidance when needed."

Although Clive hasn't experienced Pure O herself, she notes that it didn't stop her identifying with Marnie, as you shouldn't need to be experiencing someone's exact struggle to be able to relate.

"It's not just Marnie who feels she's different within her community. All of the characters have something they feel they don't know how to talk about particularly well." she says. "And actually Marnie's honesty helps everyone open up a little bit. We don't have to have the same insecurities, or anxieties, or things going on with us to be able to relate to someone's struggle and I think that's a really important message."

Clive knows a thing or two about struggles, as the comedy career that led to her getting the role of Marnie was kick-started when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2015, as i-News reports. She dubbed her tumour Britney and used at as the inspiration to write an Edinburgh Fringe show with her best friend Ellen.

However, Clive, who hails from "Oxford by way of Virginia," tells me it's not this struggle that she felt bonded her the most with Marnie as a character. "So when I got the role I was living in America in the time so I moved back for it. I'd never lived in London before and the whole Marnie coming to London and not knowing what it is was something I was going through at the same time. That I feel I could really relate to — that feeling of being a fish out of water."

Pure tracks Marnie's move to London as she attempts to escape her condition, following an imagined orgy at a party for her parents' wedding anniversary. Once she arrives she realises pretty quickly that she can't outrun her illness. But despite the seriousness of the subject matter, what's refreshing about Pure is how it deftly gives the condition the heft it deserves, all while showing that people who suffer from mental illnesses can still lead full, funny, sexual, embarrassing, heartwarming, difficult, and joyful lives.

Clive hopes that this will help viewers go away with a more nuanced idea of the realities of Pure O. "I think hopefully the thing that people will be struck by is that it's real. The reactions that characters have are all grounded in truth. If you suffer from something like Pure O, you're looking for ways to feel as normal as possible, so that's what your life becomes, [not] how do I cure myself but how do I live my best life."

And of course she wants the series to open up the conversation around Pure O, OCD, and mental health more widely. "There's a lot of taboo around talking about mental health but there's also a lot of stereotypes, which means that as soon you say OCD people think they know what you're talking about.

"To be part of as show that's really nuanced and shows the personal account of what it's like to have a condition like this is something that's really exciting and that will hopefully open lots of platforms for people to talk about it."

Pure airs on Channel 4 on Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

Originally published on Bustle UK

Making It As A New Model At London Fashion Week Is A Lot Harder Than You'd Think

If you were asked what it takes to make it as a model at London Fashion Week, it might seem like a pretty easy question. But to say something as simple as "good looks" is to underestimate the grit and graft that goes into being a face of the world of fashion. It's an industry that's perpetually underestimated, but anything that contributes £32.3 billion to the UK economy was never going to be easy money. You only need look at the revolving door of fashion designers at major brands to see that a stylish life isn't always straightforward.

For models, fashion weeks are huge opportunities — they're a chance not just to walk the runway for major fashion labels but to help set yourself up for the months ahead or cement the reputation you've been building over previous seasons. The catwalk shows are just the glamorous conclusion to a lot of hard work. For models fashion week starts with castings and ends with after-parties, in a cycle that — if they're lucky — repeats over and over again. It's often the most fast-paced and exciting time in any model's calendar.

To find out what it's really like to be a new face at London Fashion Week, and celebrate the launch of their Tech Pack Collection, Nike partnered with Fashion East and followed models Ibukun and Deba during their busy schedules of late nights and early starts. Taking in catwalk shows, after parties, and everything in between, photographer Lily Bertrand Webb captured their experiences in a series of raw, behind-the-scenes portraits.

Ibukun moved to London five months ago to pursue a full-time career in modelling after winning Nigeria's Next Supermodel in 2017. She feels London has given her career a real boost, and finds fashion week in the city a challenging but enjoyable experience. “I feel I have grown so much since moving to London — to me it is a city full of adventures. This is my second season here, and it was really fun! It was also stressful at times, but I got to work with some really amazing designers and I was so excited to walk for them,” she told me.

In typical day at LFW, a model like Ibukun might attend multiple castings. "You go to castings, meet different designers. Hopefully you get booked. I had like 20 different castings one day. It was totally crazy." But despite how busy it can be, for Ibukun it's all worth it. "Walking on the runway [is my favourite type of modelling]. I'm Nigerian and you don't get this opportunity there. You don't get this opportunity everyday. I love the runway. I feel very confident up there. The spirit up there, I can't describe it."

And as she's now a Londoner, Ibukun says fashion week in the capital is not just beneficial to her career, but a fun experience among friends. "I find it easier at London Fashion Week. I'm close to my bookers, they look out for me like they're my parents. [Fashion week] helps me personally. I used to stay quiet and just watch but it's made me more open and friendly. I socialise now. It's opened a lot of doors for me, given me a lot of opportunities."

Deba, who is just 17, recently walked for Vetements in Paris and hoped to snag a spot on the catwalk for another major brand at London Fashion Week. She explained that the city, which is known for its focus on fresh designers and more cutting edge style, inspires her. “London motivates me to do better and push myself. I’ve never actually ‘done’ London Fashion Week before now," she says.

For many models it's not always a case of instant success, and for new faces, who are early on in their modelling careers, fashion week can be more an opportunity to meet those with booking power and start getting their name on the right lists. And when London's done, it's off to Milan to do it all over again. Deba comments: "Although I don’t always get booked for the catwalks, I don’t let it get me down. Meeting casting agents and designers is super exciting for me, and I’m looking forward to walking my second major runway in Milan”.

So next time you're scrolling through Instagram and see snaps of your favourite model jetting around the world for runway shows, you'll know a lot of hard work goes into achieving that enviable lifestyle.

Originally published on Bustle UK