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Performer and writer Susan Wokoma is the perfect salve to 2020’s ups and downs. In her recent Q&A, the star of TV hits including Chewing Gum, Year Of The Rabbit, and now Netflix’s Enola Holmes tells Backstage why she keeps joy at the centre of her work, what encouragement she needed to start writing, and how she leans into the insecurity of the industry.
On where her confidence comes from
“For a long time, my confidence came from other people, which is a very dicey space. I would have people say: ‘You’re really good at this,’ and then drama school takes those voices away. Even if your peers think you’re good, they can feel threatened by that and not tell you or just be consumed in their own stuff. You’ve got teachers who are trying to get you away from doing the things you’re good at. So, you don’t always feel great! But drama school is where I learned what I’m doing this for, who am I doing this for. And I did a 360 – it became about me enjoying it. If I don’t enjoy it, what’s the point? So, I get my confidence from enjoyment. It sounds so vague, but when I’m having fun is when I feel confident. And that’s really got me through some sticky, dark patches of my career, where I’ve been able to remember something and think: ‘I love that.’ It’s a flimsy source of confidence but it’s all you’ve got.”
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On picking the speeches that got her into drama school
“The first time I applied, I didn’t get in. I was picking speeches based on what would be impactful or interesting. The next year, I picked parts that I really wanted to play. Characters I wanted to do the whole way through. And RADA had this rule about you picking someone around your age and whatever. But there weren’t that many parts for me or my age that I knew of. My taste was towards older parts because I was obsessed with Helen Mirren at this point. I thought: she’s in her 60s, she’s having the most fun, she doesn’t get insecure. And so I ended up picking Cleopatra. And although I was still nervous ahead of doing the speeches and in the interview and stuff like that, when I did the speeches I was like: ‘Yeah, I’m into all of this.’ And that was the biggest difference.”
On following the green lights
“I didn’t write at all until around 2016 when I had my first offer, my first commission. It was off the back of Chewing Gum, which had just come out and done super-well. And a producer got in touch and said: ‘I love your work, do you write?’ I was very honest and said no, but they came back and said they’d like to develop something with me. I remember speaking to my friend, who’s a really accomplished writer, and feeling guilty, thinking I’m just some upstart actress and I’ve got this commission. And she gave me the best bit of advice: follow the green lights. If someone’s saying ‘go’ then go. Also, if you were a man, you wouldn’t think twice.’
On leaning into the insecurity
“For acting in particular, it’s dreams. It’s made out of dreams and hope and luck. There’s no formula, like go to drama school, then be in this or do that. Every time you think it’s one thing, the goalposts change and it’s something else. So, one of the things that I have really leaned into is the insecurity of it. And if you’re not friends with that insecurity, it’s going to be heart-breaking for you. If I look at the industry and think: ‘It’s just dust and magic’ then it’s easier; it makes me go: ‘OK, cool.’ But if I think: ‘I’ve got to do this and then meet that person’ that’s way too much pressure, it doesn’t work for me. It’s about understanding that what success looks like is different for everyone and it changes, too. And it could be anyone’s. I know that’s not very helpful but I think, particularly in 2020, if you’re trying to make plans then just forget it. There’s no point. It could all go so badly wrong but it could also be bloody brilliant, you just have to be in it.
Enola Holmes is now available worldwide on Netflix and Truth Seekers is available on Amazon Prime Video from 30th October
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