MADAME MALICE

BB So, BAFTA-nominated actress, was that always the dream?

TS It was actually between acting and being an air hostess for me. But there were two reasons I ended up acting instead. The first: I wasn’t going to be tall enough, plus I realised that, taking aside the glamour, air hostessing is basically like being a waitress in the sky and I don’t think I quite had the patience for that [laughs].

Acting…I always knew it was something I innately wanted to pursue. I really enjoyed doing school plays and took them very seriously. I absolutely loved watching films, all types of films when I was growing up. I remember being about seven years old and being like ‘I want to do that’ but…It felt as though it was one of those childhood dreams, so after college I tried to focus on doing something more practical, realistic. Although my family were encouraging and supportive, nobody really knew how to get in professionally, how to get an agent, etc. But I realised that it was just what I wanted to do and nothing else would ever satisfy me professionally.

BB Was there a particular film you watched back then that really inspired you?

TS My mum had so many films that she'd record off the TV, so we had everything, and I mean everything. She only had one rule which was you can watch absolutely anything whatsoever — someone could be getting their head chopped off, getting violently beaten up — but as soon as a sex scene came on, it was getting turned off.

Because of this, I ended up watching an incredibly broad and varied selection of films. It was one of my favourite things to do on a Sunday; pick a film, get my mum or sister to make some popcorn and just get lost in a completely different world for a while. I think it was fantasy that really let me see that, watching this as a child, the art of acting is utilising your imagination and working with things that weren’t necessarily there. And I remember thinking ‘oh that’s a job, that would be really cool to do.’

But ultimately, it was the broad experience that I think really intrigued me: you can be anyone or anything, there’s a fluidity to it.

BB That ties in nicely to my next question because, what really intrigues me about the work that you’ve done, is that it’s extremely multi-generic. Going from The Haunting of Bly Manor to The Tower and now your new show, it’s so varied. Is this something that you look for when approaching roles?

TS I think it all just comes down to the project, the script, the character and the team of people attached to that project. I know of a lot of people who’d maybe want to stay away from certain genres for fear they won’t be taken seriously. I don’t have that apprehension. For me, if a project has the right character, with the right kind of writing, it doesn’t matter what genre it is.