Sorcha Groundsell

Scottish actress Sorcha Groundsell is currently starring in the latest series of His Dark Materials - you might also recognise her from ITV’s Shetland or BBC3’s Clique. The 24 year old talks to us about joining the hit fantasy series, the small indie film that kicked off her career and her love of going to the cinema.

You’re from the Isle Of Lewis, an island in the Outer Hebrides - how did you get into acting being from somewhere so far away from the industry?

I lived there as a child, then moved to Glasgow when I was 9, which is obviously much closer to it all! I decided, sort of out of the blue, that I wanted to try acting, and found an acting class in Glasgow which I went to religiously, every spare minute that I could. There was an open casting for a film, which I went to and ended up getting it, then got an agent off the back of that, and it just snowballed from there really. It was pure luck.

What was the film?

It was a Scottish independent film called Iona, by a guy called Scott Graham. He’s an amazing filmmaker.

Have you always remained in Scotland?

I left school when I was 16 and basically started working straight away - I got that film, then got an agent, although I was still living in Glasgow, just commuting back and forth for auditions and things, and then finally took the plunge when I was 18, packed up and moved to London.

How did you find the move? Is the industry in Glasgow much different to London?

To be honest I think it’s probably really changed since I left. I mean it’s not like I’ve even been doing this for that long, but when I was living in Glasgow and working in London there was really not a whole lot going on in Scotland - there were a few things, but the industry was not really as fruitful as it is now. It felt like everyone I knew in Glasgow who wanted to be an actor eventually moved to London, but in the time I’ve been away it feels like quite a few people are actually choosing not to do that - not just actors but creatives across the board - and invest in their local scenes more. I was lucky in that I’d been working for a couple of years by the time I moved, so I knew a few people in London, but it was a hard transition. I never went to drama school, I fully intended to do it the “proper” way, but once I got started there was never a time that felt right. Then there’s the nine and a half grand a year, and that felt like a huge financial burden to take on, especially for a degree in something that isn’t guaranteed to end up giving you a career. I think though with acting there are lots of different ways to learn - you learn on the job, watching other actors, and there are a million part-time acting classes that are, in my opinion, just as valuable as something that gives you a degree at the end.

As Maddy (right) in His Dark Materials

You’re currently starring in the third series of His Dark Materials - how was your experience of joining the show?

It was amazing - it was one of my first jobs back after Covid and it was pretty nerve-wracking, as you feel kind of out of practice after a year or so out, but it was a real joy. Everyone was really welcoming and lovely - I think because they have such a sprawling cast they’re pretty used to people coming in and out and new characters, it felt really open. The director Amit Gupta I’d worked with a long time ago, and I’m such a big fan of his, so it was really wonderful having this kind of presence that I knew on set. He’s such a generous, calm, kind director, so it creates the best environment for you to come into as a newbie, because you feel that you are actually going to be listened to. It was filmed in Wales, and that was quite nice as everyone’s away from home, it fosters sort of a community spirit.

You also played the lead role in the low-fi indie horror film Far From The Apple Tree, which was released last year. How did you get involved with that?

I think I just got sent the script through my agent. It was a very intriguing proposition - the director Grant McPhee had this plan to shoot the entire film in about nine days, and I think we actually did manage it! It felt almost like what I imagine a touring theatre company might be like, just rocking up at this big country house and everyone just knuckling in and speeding through it. I think it worked quite well!

Is there anything you actively seek out in scripts, in characters?

As Judith in Far From The Apple Tree

I try to keep quite an open mind, because you never know what’s going to come your way, which I think is part of what’s interesting about this job. You might see yourself in a particular way, or might see yourself as right for certain roles, and actually the things that you often end up doing are not what you’d have imagined. I think for a long time I was quite caught up in trying to do the “right” thing, pick the “right” things, make all the “right” decisions, form a career in the “right” way, and actually, I think now I’m getting less and less interested in that, you know, I’m less interested in what the obvious “smart” career choice is and more interested in what is going to allow me to access some form of creativity, which I think leads to more interesting options. It doesn’t need to be, like, the lead in a big show, it can be a really interesting part that stretches your imagination and creativity.

Do you watch many films yourself, do you go to the cinema much?

I do, well I try to! I just got a MUBI subscription which is, like, blowing my mind! I think some of my favourite films I’ve seen in the past year were actually older films that I just took a long while to see. The one that I think has probably stayed with me the most is The Salt Of The Earth, Wim Wenders’ documentary about Sebastiao Salgado, genuinely I don’t think I’ve ever been that moved in a cinema in my life. I saw it in the Wim Wenders season last year, when his films we rereleased, and I wish we’d get more things like that. Sometimes you see a film and you think “That’s meant to be seen in a cinema”. I saw Nope at the cinema last year and loved it, then I got my parents to watch it over Christmas just on a TV, and it was still great but I missed the kind of full sound design and the atmosphere - especially when something’s scary like that you need the size and the scale. You lose something when it’s just on a little box, it’s just not quite the same.

Is there anything you’re working on at the moment you can discuss?

I’ve got a couple of things I shot last year that’ll be coming out later this year - one of them’s a very weird short film that is, I think, one of the maddest, most wonderful experiences I’ve had at work! Otherwise It’s quite freeing to come into the new year with a bit of a blank slate, just see what comes. It’s nice to have some time for other things, like I’ve been writing, trying to be creative in other ways. I’ve been working on a couple of screenplay ideas, which is a very recent development - it might be terrible, it might be amazing, who knows, but you’ve just gotta go for it.

Words: Scott Bates

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