Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Interviews by JANE CROWTHER

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As they get ready to enjoy their Rising Star nominations at the BAFTAs, Greg Williams takes Robert Aramayo and Posy Sterling out for a post-party bite in London…

Robert Aramayo takes a huge bite of a doorstop crisp sandwich in the Regency Café in Pimlico. It’s the first time he’s ever had potato crisps as a sandwich filler before – a British student snack and hangover staple – despite hailing from Hull in the North of England. The last couple of years have been a series of firsts for the actor, who began his thespian training at the Hull Truck Youth Theatre before winning a place at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York. Since graduating, he’s worked on two ‘big machines’ in terms of project: playing Eddard Stark in Game of Thrones (where he learnt sword fighting) and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He’s also played real-life historical figure Orde Wingate in Palestine 36 and Tourette’s sufferer and campaigner, John Davidson, in hit dramedy biopic, I Swear. That role, expertly crafted to show the physical and verbal ‘tics’ for the syndrome as well as the humanity, warmth and hope of Davidson, is what has put him on the shortlist this year for BAFTA’s Rising Star Award and also seen him nominated for Best Leading Actor. ‘It’s really genuinely unexpected,’ he smiles of the nomination as he loosens his bow tie.

‘I feel genuinely lucky to be a part of I Swear, and a part of a film that’s really trying to do something. It’s trying to be accessible, so that people can watch it and not get hit over the head with an issue. But, at the same time, it’s really trying to say something about the way that we look at Tourette’s.’ To prepare for the part and to do justice to Davidson, Aramayo immersed himself in the Tourette’s community. ‘I worked with Tourette’s Scotland, but the key was John himself. I spent a lot of time with him really trying to drill into his psychology, and how he feels.’ The work paid off, with Aramayo’s performance astonishing audiences and helping to educate as well as entertain. He’s been touched by the response he’s received, and by the gifts. ‘Someone made me a jug that says “spunk for milk” on it!’ he laughs about one of his more memorable lines from the film getting a life beyond the screen and hitting a nerve with viewers.

Posy Sterling’s recent work has made a similar impression. The Leicester native stunned audiences with her towering performance of a single mother newly released from prison and struggling to find a way to regain custody of her children in Lollipop. Sterling won the Breakthrough Performance BIFA for her work, and the connections she made while filming have taken her to the Houses of Parliament the week we meet, to discuss the issues raised in the movie with MPs. She tears up as she talks about the role and the project, the themes clearly close to her heart after immersing herself in the community she was portraying, as Aramayo did. ‘I think that the world, in a way, needed to get ready to listen and to hear the message of this film,’ she says, explaining that her interest in women falling through the cracks of the UK’s penal system was something she’d become interested in on a previous project. ‘I wanted to learn more about it. I wanted to do something about it. So when this script fell in my lap I really felt I needed to do this. I knew how special it was, but seeing it now in the real world and a conversation that’s happening without much finger pointing or blame… I’m getting so many messages. It’s the gift that keeps on giving where I’m invested in this movement. I knew this need in me to do it wasn’t just to play the part. I’m not going to have the privilege of being able to do that with every job that I do.’

Though she has another project incoming that explores real-world issues in Dirty Business (Channel 4’s upcoming factual drama about whistleblowers in polluting UK water companies), she is now looking for different performances and perspectives. ‘There was a need in me to tell a story like this and that’s been birthed out of me now, if you know what I mean? Now I’m picking up inspirations from other things, other genres.  There’s been beautiful jobs I’ve done in different ways, and they’ve been a gift that’s been a bit of a revelation at times, and you learn different things about yourself as an artist or things about the world. There are these pillar moments along the timeline I can feel that are happening.’ 

Both actors feel they have learnt a great deal on navigating the business and the artistry of their world from fellow actors. For Aramayo it was working with Peter Mullan on both Rings of Power and I Swear. ‘Pete’s not going to turn up and start telling you about his experience, and all the things he’s learned, and overtly pass on things to you. However, the way that he works is really healthy work. He leads by example, brings an ease to the set, and is really open to talking about things, changing things, and he just has an ultimate respect for the people that he’s working with. He’s such an amazing collaborator.’ 

For Sterling her ‘North Star for a career’ was Saoirse Ronan when she worked with her on The Outrun, a film Ronan led onscreen and off as star and producer. ‘The Outrun was a training ground. And can you imagine Saoirse Ronan literally being your teacher? I asked her so many questions. She was so generous with her time. I was watching and just observing how she was on set. I love that she’d chosen this project, was producing this project, and cared so deeply about this subject matter. I would love to make work like that, and to have the privilege of getting to choose like that.’

For now Sterling is writing her own material and will next appear in detective show, Trigger Point, something she describes as a ‘completely different pair of shoes’. ‘Trigger Point really gave me that grounding in many ways. I realised how at home I felt working on set and making something, all these really talented people coming together and creating make-believe. There’s a different weight and energy to that.’ Having starred in Benedict Andrews’ The Cherry Orchard at the Donmar with a transfer to St Ann’s Warehouse in New York last year, Sterling loves the live experience and connecting with an audience in real time. But right now she admits she has ‘fallen in love with the format of film’. ‘I’ll always go back to the theatre. I think it’s essential, like an athlete, to be a theatre actor. It’s a completely different ball game in a very different way. But film storytelling is so exciting, in how it comes together in preproduction and post. And then that’s on the planet for ever. It’s a very different thing that I want to be a part of for as long as I live.’

Aramayo is currently treading the West End boards in Guess How Much I Love You?, a two-hander with Rosie Sheehy at the Royal Court. ‘It’s going to make me a better actor,’ he nods, taking his dinner jacket off in preparation to run to the stage door for a show this evening. ‘I hope every experience helps move me forward. I want to work on things for the right reasons, and to keep pushing myself. The scary thing about being an actor is, you don’t know when your next job is coming. And the great thing about being an actor is that you don’t know what your next job will be. I think both of those can be exciting and intimidating.’ 

Sterling agrees. ‘I’m open to the universe,’ she says of her next job. ‘I love comedy. I love vampires. I would love to explore otherworldly things. I don’t think I would ever turn down an action… I want to explore all different formats of film genres, because up until now, I’ve learned by doing. And I think in the creative world, that’s what you have to do, and you have to be curious. All the greatest actors have that in common – remaining curious.’