West London has a new shooting star
Gloria Obianyo talks to Jane McGowan about diversity, exceeding expectations and her new West End role.
Gloria Obianyo has a CV most actors would kill for.
The West London performer has starred alongside David Tennant and Michael Sheen in the cult Amazon Original comedy mini-series Good Omens; is soon to be seen on the big screen in the remake of sci-fi movie Dune; has trodden the boards of the Old Vic and Donmar Warehouse; and last year acted opposite Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo in the National Theatre’s stellar production of Antony and Cleopatra.
Not bad at all for one who only left drama school in 2016.
“Yep, getting to work on stage every day with Voldemort himself was pretty much a dream,” laughs the 24 year old, who heads for the West End this month to star as Marianne, as the award-winning musical Girl from the North Country makes a much heralded return.
“Ralph is just such a lovely person and was a very generous actor to work with – as indeed was Sophie,” she explains.
“It was a blessed experience. Quite apart from my own role [Charmian, Cleopatra’s most prominent lady-in-waiting], I got to understudy Sophie. So I learned quite quickly what it means to be a leading lady – how to bear that cross and give everything to the work, while at the same time trying to look after yourself so that you can perform night after night.”
Cylla von Tiedemann
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Girl From The Northern Country, Mirvish Prod.
Born in Ealing, Gloria attended The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in Acton and had early ambitions to be a lawyer. After watching Disney teen flick High School Musical, however, she performed a mental u-turn.
“I was obsessed,” she laughs. “I taped it from the TV and watched it over and over again – I must have seen it 50 times. I learnt all the songs, all the routines, and then I was like: ‘This is for me. I’ve caught the acting bug.’”
When the 12-year-old spotted a flyer a couple of months later saying that the local theatre school was staging its own version, she saw it as a sign.
“It was kismet. I went along and that was that. I was hooked.”
Yet despite frequent performances in local amateur productions, it wasn’t until she was almost 18 that drama school crossed Gloria’s mind.
“We were studying Sir Kenneth Branagh’s production of Hamlet and my teacher mentioned that Sir Kenneth had gone to RADA. I went home, googled all my favourite actors and found that they’d all been to drama school. I knew that was what I had to do.
“I was so close to the deadline and had to rush out all these applications and quickly prepare some monologues. I had basically practised them on my own, but somehow I got in.”
In fact, she had secured a scholarship to the Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, South-East London, on its Actor Musicianship course, combining acting with her multi-instrumentalist skills.
“Getting a scholarship was amazing. It told me that I did have something to offer – it wasn’t just my family being nice. Now someone else believed in me, and so I should go for it.”
By the third year, it was clear that Gloria had made the right decision.
“I was getting a few auditions, which made me feel that this whole thing was possible. Then, midway through my final year, I was asked to try for Jesus Christ Superstar – and I got it.”
A dilemma confronted her: whether to finish her training or take a role in what was to become one of the most lauded stagings of the Rice/Lloyd Webber classic.
“Oh, it was so, so difficult,” she recalls. “I didn’t want to drop out, but knowing how hard the business is, I wasn’t sure whether it would be stupid to turn an actual offer down.”
She took it. And although she later graduated from Rose Bruford, she was unable to attend the ceremony.
Johan Persson
“By then I had my second job,” she explains. “I finished Superstar on Saturday and started The Grinning Man at Bristol Old Vic on Monday.”
Moving seamlessly from stage to screen, Gloria soon landed her first film role in the innovative sci-fi movie High Life, alongside Twilight star Robert Pattinson and the multi-award-winning Juliette Binoche.
“I think Twilight came out when I was about 13, so you could say that I have paid a bit of attention to Robert’s career,” she laughs. “If he had signed up for this, I knew it must be an interesting piece.
“The audition felt great, but I had to wait almost a month to find out whether I had got the part. When they finally called, I was just like: ‘Wow! My first screen job.’”
That her career has enjoyed a dream start is a fact not lost on Gloria, who grew up believing that black actors could only play certain roles.
“I was so happy at my secondary school. It was so diverse, it was like the UN,” she states proudly. “When the register was called there were names from all over the place. We discovered so much about people’s cultures – what it means to be from Russia, Pakistan, Japan. We learned about other religions; we respected people’s views. I am so glad to have been a pupil there.
“But when I went to drama school, I still thought that I would only do comedy, as that’s what all the black female actors I had seen on screen did.
“Then, at the end of the first year, I did a Tennessee Williams play. And then Hamlet. The teachers really encouraged me, which opened the door for me to play other dramatic roles. I had never thought that I would be able to play major roles in Shakespeare, and certainly not at theatres like the National.”
Three short years into her professional career, Gloria is now an established, globe-trotting actor. Yet her heart remains firmly rooted in West London.
“Even at drama school, I came home every weekend."
West London is the best part of the capital – and people who don’t think so, well, they clearly haven’t been there,” she laughs. “They think there is nothing beyond Notting Hill on the Central Line.”
Luckily, for the next few months at least, Gloria will be able to enjoy a short commute to the Gielgud Theatre, as she takes up the role of Marianne.
“It’s such an affecting piece and so well-written,” she says. “Even during rehearsals, people were in tears.”
Authored by acclaimed playwright Conor McPherson, Girl from the North Country uses the songs of Bob Dylan, which lend themselves beautifully to the Depression-hit Midwest setting. Narrated by the town doctor, the story centres on a guesthouse in Duluth, Minnesota, and the collection of losers, conmen and damaged souls seeking shelter within its run-down walls.
Back in 2017, Sheila Atim wowed audiences and critics with her interpretation of Marianne, securing the Olivier for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. The pressure to do the role justice is one to which Gloria is not immune.
“It’s up to me to offer a fresh approach; to delve into the character of this black woman in the 1930s raised by a white family. She is truly fascinating – there is so much sadness, but there is hope too. It’s a very special piece.”
Girl from the North Country is at the Gielgud Theatre, Dec 10 – Feb 1. Visit: girlfromthenorthcountry.london
