Wat-Not Staff
Rakie Ayola, 56, is an actor, producer, and activist who was born in Cardiff to Nigerian and Sierra Leonean parents. The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama was her training ground.
Her most well-known roles are as nurse Kyla Tyson in Holby City and as Hermione Granger in the West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. She received a Bafta for the BBC drama Anthony and a Bafta Cymru for The Pact.
She currently stars in the modern-day Greek mythological series Kaos on Netflix.
Actress talks about her choice of roles and projects
The theatrical and cinematic actress who plays Persephone in Netflix’s daring interpretation of Greek mythology, goes viral, and doesn’t care about accolades. She talks about how and why she chose the role of Persephone, queen of the underworld.
“The opening moment on Mount Olympus for my character. She then continues to help herself to the breakfast bar when Hades and Persephone come for breakfast. That woman is one that shows up at someone’s house and begins putting food on her plate to cover up her anxieties. I can tell you exactly who that woman is. They have hash browns, she even yells to Hades. Hera becomes enraged as she eats throughout this crucial conversation. I had to pretend to be this woman! Her outfits were inspired by Margaret Thatcher. I had Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in mind for her hair; she would appear with her position, akin to a crown, on her head” She quotes.
Several other questions asked about her recent work
When asked about Charlie Covell, the creator of her series and also the writer of The End of the F***ing World she said “I binged The End of the F***ing World during lockdown and thought it was wild. In Kaos, Charlie has a riot with the Greek myths, which I used to adore. Age 16, bizarrely, I decided to start worshipping the Greek gods. This went on for about a year until I had to admit I could never remember their names. Funnily enough, I once co-wrote and produced a short film called Persephone’s Playground, so this role felt like fate.”
When asked what drew her to act in Faith Omole’s debut play, My Father’s Fable, she said “I adore Faith from We Are Lady Parts, where she plays bassist Bisma on Channel 4. She forwarded the screenplay to me, and her writing exuded such bravery. She took the risk of placing two incredibly out-of-date characters at the center of the play: Peace, a teacher who has never looked into her heritage, and Favour, a traditional black Nigerian woman who makes a concerted effort to sound as English as possible. It is really entertaining and challenging for the audience. It takes guts to be funny.”
Her take on her life after 40s and menopause
“Incredible things have occurred after the age of forty. My friend Sharon Duncan-Brewster organised a group of ladies ten years ago. “Listen, we’re getting to the point where it seems like this business no longer needs us,” she stated. Thus, we must continue to be relevant and rely on one another. We formed this creative support group by getting together every few weeks to talk about work and share our writing. It kept growing. Tanya Moodie, Noma Dumezweni, and Indira Varma were all present. We continued playing, and for some reason, our careers all took a big dive.”She quoted.
When asked about her twitter bio “Still Menopausal” she answered, “It was shocking to me that I couldn’t recall anything throughout menopause. My brain was having trouble keeping the words in, so I wasn’t sure whether I could do any more plays. Since I am now on the other side of it, it is crucial that we continue to discuss it. Yes, I am a postmenopausal lady who is continuing on hormone replacement therapy. That explains in part why I gave Persephone glasses in Kaos and why I gave Favour a fan in My Father’s Fable. Just try to be a tad more grounded, please.”
When asked where she keeps her three Baftas – for The Pact and Anthony, plus the Bafta Cymru Siân Phillips award, she wittingly answered “In a little cabinet, all three of them in a triumvirate. They are very public because I’m not remotely cool about having them. I’d love to be the kind of person who can be really casual about awards, but those people will almost always be “Bafta-winning so-and-so”. Whereas I think that if I don’t share them, they’ll be easily forgotten. I’d just be Rakie Ayola from Cardiff!” Her take on awards has been viral since then.
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