WAVE RIDER

Tthe year 2023 is a big one for Ella Lily Hyland as she makes waves in the EIFF opening film Silent Roar and gets her big break in a leading role with Amazon’s tennis drama Fifteen-Love Born in Carlow, Ireland, Hyland made the move to London ‘nearly a year ago’, she reflects, as we speak to her via Zoom from her home in Crystal Palace. She’s been ‘playing pretend’ from a young age when her parents put her in drama school, but stopped for a time in secondary school until the age of 16 when she joined the National Youth Theatre group and then attended The Lir Academy in Dublin. If Hyland were to make a film of her life, it would probably be a comedy. ‘Because growing up is so awkward and that’s probably why I resonated with Silent Roar because these characters are so awkward,’ she says. ‘Me and Johnny probably have a similar vein in that way.’ Hyland is referring to Scottish debut feature filmmaker Johnny Barrington who has written and directed Silent Roar, loosely based on his own teenage years growing up on Skye. This off-kilter coming-of-ager follows a grieving teen called

Dondo (Louis McCartney) who finds solace in surfing and develops a friendship with his confident, high-achieving school friend Sas (Hyland).

It’s a film that has a similar vibe to Richard Ayoade’s Submarine (‘I love Submarine!’ exclaims Hyland). Of Silent Roar, she says, ‘the thing I loved most was the friendship between Dondo and Sas because it’s very unique. I feel like if you were to look at them separately you wouldn’t put them together in a social circle.’

Music really informed the character of Sas; while the cast and crew bonded while filming on the Isle Of Lewis, they shared songs, went on hikes and watched movies together. ‘The music from that time is really so special to me,’ Hyland explains with endearing enthusiasm. ‘One song that really reminds me of Sas was Aldous Harding’s “The Barrel”. Sas listened to loads of Jimi Hendrix; he was her hero. There was a Father John Misty song called “Pure Comedy” that one of the other cast members played me and told me that it reminded them of Sas. Loads of Kate Bush, which related to how weird and ethereal she was; that really got me into the world of Silent Roar. I feel like she has a bit of a Kate Bush vibe.’

In Silent Roar, Sas asks Dondo to teach her how to surf, something Hyland herself cannot do. Doubles were used as a work-around in the film, but for her starring role in the tennis drama Fifteen-Love, she did a lot of ‘physically challenging’ training with multiple coaches, including former pro tennis player Naomi Cavaday. The series also has a #MeToo spin which explores Hyland’s tennis-playing character’s relationship with her older coach, played by Aidan Turner.

For research, Hyland read countless stories about women in sport and their experiences of abuse of power and struggles with mental health. ‘One of the biggest things that is an integral part of the storyline of FifteenLove is that, until recently, the Sexual Offences Act didn’t consider tennis coaches to be a person of trust, which meant they could have a relationship with 16 year olds.’ Hyland despairs at the lack of emotional and physical protection afforded to athletes who dedicate their life to sport, and it was a major motivating factor in telling their story. ‘To know that the law doesn’t deem those people who are much older than you, and completely in a disparity of power, to be persons of trust, is harrowing. I think a huge thing to realise in situations like this is that athletes’ lives are on the line.’ In addition to her acting career, Hyland has other strings to her racquet, including writing and screenwriting. Citing A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing author Eimear McBride as inspiration, along with Sally Wainwright, Alice Birch and Megan Nolan, she’s currently developing a film with the working title of Fenna. ‘It’s about growing up in a small town and drug culture told through a female perspective.’ She may be writing about small-town life, but with Screen International naming her one of their Rising Stars Ireland for 2023, it seems the big time beckons for Hyland.

Silent Roar, Everyman, 18 August, 6.30pm, 6.35pm, 6.40pm, 6.45pm, 6.50pm, Vue 9pm; 19 August, Vue, 11.30am, 11.45am, noon.

Cinema Under The Stars

Always a risk but never anything less than a joy, this year’s batch of outdoor movie screenings includes The Lego Movie, Safety Last! and Puss In Boots, plus recent Oscar champs Everything Everywhere All At Once (pictured) and Parasite n Old College Quad, 19 August, 10.30am–11pm; 20 August, 10am–10pm.