Anna on Fender, Forrest Gump and French composer Massenet

At the start of lockdown, she was cast in a series called ‘Glow and Darkness’ which is due to start filming once the Coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

Here she answers our questions:

Q. What is your favourite song/album and why?

A. Starting off with a tough one! I kind of go through phases of what type of music I want to listen to, and I guess that depends on my mood as well. I’m usually easily pleased with any type of song, especially when it’s something that I can get up and have a boogie to. At the moment, I’ve been listening to a lot of Sam Fender. He’s relatively new to the music industry and has an upbeat, Bruce Springsteen-type vibe. My favourite song of his is ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ which is also the title of the album. It’s a great album to download if you’re planning to go on a road trip any time soon. I think why I enjoy his music so much is because he has such a unique voice that you’d know it was him straight away just from hearing a couple of lyrics. He makes everything his own. I think that’s so important nowadays as a lot of modern artists seem to be blending into one. When I listen to his songs, I also feel like I should be standing in a crowded concert hall belting out the lyrics with my friends, without a worry. It’s just you and the music.

Q. What is your favourite film and why?

A. My answer to this question used to always be Forrest Gump. As a child watching that movie for the first time I was blown away by the captivating story and Tom Hanks’ outstanding performance. For a few years it was always the same answer, until I really thought about what the film meant to me and of course my opinion changed, as it tends to do regularly whilst growing up. You seem to learn what matters to you in life and the following movie is one that really brings joy and a humble feeling after watching it every time without fail...

The movie is ‘About Time’ starring Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson as well as many other well-known actors. Try watching it without crying, I dare you! You’ll be doing far better than me if you can manage without blubbering. It’s about time travelling within a family that has been genetically passed down through the males. The time travelling act is used to perhaps ‘perfect’ an event that you thought should have gone supposedly better. But after using it for bigger things in life, is it healthy to live your life knowing that you can change things so easily? It’s about becoming happy with what you have and how to really appreciate that everything you go through in life is what makes you, you. It also has a really beautiful soundtrack that may also make you cry...sorry!

Q. What is your favourite piece of classical music and why?

A. ‘Meditation by Thais’ from the French composer Jules Massenet. When I was younger, I used to play the violin. I was supposed to play this piece for my Grade 7 violin exam, however, A levels and other commitments meant I couldn’t complete the exam. It’s such an emotive piece of music and when I first listened to it, I fell in love with it and also thought, ‘I could never do that justice’. If you listen to the piece, you’ll realise how beautiful it is which is why it has always stuck with me. It also reminds me of my school days, being able to leave maths (yay!) for my violin lessons every week and being able to spend time with my violin teacher, Colin Elliott who was and still is an absolute legend and who has taught me violin since I was eight years old. I’m sure he’d be raging that I wasn’t still playing - that should have been something I could have picked up again during my time at home over lockdown.

Q. Who is your favourite artist and why?

A. Lady Gaga. A living icon. I’ve been a huge fan of hers since she first came on the scene. But I feel like my respect for her talent has kept on growing as I’ve gotten older. From dancing in my bedroom belting out the lyrics to every song from her debut album ‘The Fame’ at the age of 10 to crying my eyes out at the age of 21 during her stunning performance in ‘A Star is Born’. I feel like my respect for her talent has kept on growing as I’ve gotten older. She’s an artist that I really respect. She is a strong, talented, daring, versatile, unique, beautiful, feminine woman who is an incredibly inspiring artist. All the things that I want to be.

Q. What is your favourite play and why?

A. As an actor, I’d expect this to be an easy question. I have seen and read many great plays, however, there aren’t any that are my absolute favourite. I tend to love so many genres which is good but makes this question more difficult. For the sake of the question, I’d have to go with ‘The Ferryman’ by Jez Butterworth. Seeing an Irish play in a West End Theatre was really something. It gave me hope, as an Irish actor, that there are opportunities out there for Irish artists to really shine.

Q. What is your favourite musical and why?

A. I definitely don’t have one favourite musical because I have seen so many that I LOVE which is great! However, my favourite musical that I have performed in, thus far, is ‘Guys and Dolls’ where I played the role of Miss Adelaide when I was at school in Dominican College, Portstewart. I would love to have the opportunity to play that role again. There’s something so lovable about her.

She’s hilarious and her storyline throughout the musical makes you want to root for her. She hasn’t exactly picked the right guy to marry and he seems too occupied with gambling to pop the question which in turn drives Adelaide mad and leaves her with a long-lasting cold which she thinks is stress related. Her self-diagnosis is played out through her main song ‘Adelaide’s Lament’, which in my opinion is one of the greatest songs in the show with ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat’ coming in at a close second.

Q. What is your most special moment in the arts and why?

A. During my time at ArtsEd we got to visit the National Theatre to do a voice workshop whilst standing on the Olivier Theatre stage. We all delivered either a monologue or sonnet to test out the acoustics of the space and to see how much vocal power we needed to reach the back of the theatre. It was such a memorable experience; especially for a little girl from a small town in Northern Ireland who is standing on a stage where so many inspiring artists have stood and performed. It made me extremely excited about my future and think that anything is possible.

Q. What ‘classic’ just doesn’t do it for you?

A. ‘The Shining’ directed by Stanley Kubrick. It’s something that I was introduced to quite late on. I think because of the influence of close friends and family members I had extremely high expectations of what it was supposed to be like and unfortunately it didn’t quite hit the mark. I’m not particularly interested in scary movies and even though it’s not terrifying, it did creep me out which is probably why I didn’t like it as much. I didn’t hate it and I could understand why it was such a popular movie of its time, but it just didn’t do it for me.

Q. What have you been reading/watching/listening to/revisiting during the Coronavirus period?

A. During the Coronavirus period I have been staying at home with my family in Portstewart which has been really lovely. Luckily, we live very close to the beach which has been a life saver by being able to get my daily dose of fresh air and having such beautiful surroundings. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like had I still been living in a flat in London.

I’ve picked up a few hobbies whilst being at home. I started with learning Spanish on an app on my phone which lasted for a good few weeks, however, I got out of my routine which I’m going to try to pick up again!

My nana Rita has kindly lent me her sewing machine. I had never used one before and was determined to teach myself. After messing around with it for a couple of days I had managed to put together a semi decent facemask.

After a bit of practice and several YouTube videos later I had made a few masks that actually worked! Since then I have been making them here and there for family and friends. I plan to keep up this skill and hopefully one day I can sew my own dress for any red-carpet events I’ll be attending (wee jokes...but seriously!).

Other than that, I have been relaxing by reading, playing board games with family, catching up on my piano playing, braving the Atlantic Ocean with occasional dips in the sea, and perfecting my cocktail making skills which has been going very well so far!