AMY Doyle is the ‘ladette’ who fronts up Will Nash’s entertaining short film Lady.
Boisterous and charming, Amy’s impressive performance in Lady marks a promising start to her on-screen career to go along with an appearance in Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s acclaimed British horror Ghost Stories. This talented lady is undoubtedly going places.
Close-up Culture welcomes Amy onto the site to learn more about her role in Lady and her background.
Q: How do you relate to ladette culture and what does it mean to you?
A: GROWING up I was always labelled a ‘tomboy’ and then as I got a bit older ‘one of the lads’. So when I read the script I was immediately excited by the idea behind the film and the character of ‘Lady’.
‘Lady’ is unapologetically who she is and how she expresses herself is not in line with society’s expectations of how women should behave and act. There are a lot of parallels to today’s expectations of women, what it means to be feminine and what it means to be a feminist.
You would think we would be way past the fact that blue is for boys and pink is for girls or football is for boys and ballet for girls. But undoubtedly there are still many choices or behaviours that we are labelled for or judged on depending on our gender.
Q: Lady looks like it was a fun shoot with burping, plenty of different costumes and that messy breakfast. How did you find the experience?
A: FIRST things first, I cannot take credit for the burp as that was provided by my super talented anonymous stunt double. However I did do all my other stunts in the film including eating the full English breakfast which when you hate baked beans as much as I do should definitely be considered a stunt.
Baked beans aside, it was a really fun shoot and a really lovely and talented bunch of people that Will had brought together to work on this project.
Q: What kind of director is Will Nash?
A: WILL keeps things fun and laid back in rehearsals and on set which allows everyone to be at their most creative and able to enjoy the process. This is always when you get the best results.
It definitely felt like a very collaborative process and he really gave everyone involved creative freedom to bring their own ideas to the project which led to the beautifully wacky result that is ‘Lady’.
He is an incredibly talented chap. I am a fan of his work and other short films and I cannot wait to see what is next.
Q: I read that you used to host radio shows in your bedroom as a 10-year-old. Can you tell us about your background and your love for performing?
A: I HAVE always loved creating characters for fun and performing to make friends and family laugh – whether it was doing impressions and accents or coming up with my own characters and sketches.
As I got more into drama at school and involved in plays, I realised I got the same reward through acting and making the audience connect with a character and feel something.
Q: As well as Lady, you recently starred in British feature Ghost Stories. What was it like to work on that project?
A: WORKING with Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson was an amazing experience and I felt very lucky to be a part of such an exciting film that was so close to their hearts.
My scenes involved improvising which was a lot of fun and as directors they make you feel completely at ease and free. There really was a sense that it was something special and that everyone involved was loving what they were doing and excited to be a part of it.
It has been fantastic to see what great reviews and responses the film has had since coming out in the UK and US – and how many people it has terrified.
Q: Who do you aspire to and who would you love to work with?
A: SOMETHING ‘Lady’ and ‘Ghost Stories’ have in common is that both films had such a lovely team working behind them. I think that coming out of drama school you are fed a lot of stories about how difficult, big and scary the industry is and how you will face a lot of egos.
Luckily this has not been my experience to date and both films have been such enjoyable experiences – the work and the creating. If I can continue working with such brilliant artists and creatives, learning and growing as an actor, and telling exciting and important stories then I will be very happy.
Q: What is next for you?
A: I HAVE just been offered a part that I am really excited about, but unfortunately I am not allowed to say much about it just yet. Watch this space!
Watch Amy in Lady: