What is your name/age/job title?
Lucy Griffiths, 25, actress.
What one thing do you wish you had known at the start of your career that you know now?
I wish I had known to be more proactive. That there were things I could do to help myself as opposed to just waiting for my agent to call with a job or an audition. I could have created my own projects or material or sent tapes to casting directors.
If you could go back and give your younger self any practical advice, what would it be?
That there might be the odd occasion on which I wouldn’t be right!
If someone had told your 16-year-old self that you would be a successful actor in your twenties, would have believed them? Or did you have other ambitions?
I would have wanted so badly to believe them because at the time there wasn’t anything else I really wanted to do.
Is there an embarrassing episode from your past that you wish you could edit out?
One time I was walking down the street and all my clothes just fell off. That was so embarrassing.
Is there a single thing that you wish you’d known about when you started out? Something that has shaped the way you work today?
This might sound dumb and you might think it’s obvious, but learning my lines inside out and back to front helps more than I ever thought it would. It doesn’t really apply so much for theatre because after a rehearsal period your lines are stuck in your head for good, but I used to learn lines for filming on the way into work. Now I know that I have to learn them so well I can forget them – if that makes sense.
Is there a project of which you are particularly proud?
I’m really proud of a project called The Little House which I shot last year for ITV. It was a very busy, short shoot and actually quite stressful but the cast were wicked and I was really happy with the way it turned out.
What would you consider your “big break”? And how did you get it?
My big break was getting my agent. He came to watch a play I was in when I was younger with a company called In Service Productions and took me on. I live in Brighton and didn’t at that time have any friends or family who were in the industry and could give me help or advice. I was at a loss really for where to start and he came along and saved me!
True Blood
The Numbers Station
