LUCY HALLIDAY ON HER CINEMATIC COMING OF AGE

At just 22 years old, Lucy Halliday has had a big year. Between leading brand new series The Testaments (a follow on from The Handmaid’s Tale) alongside fellow rising star Chase Infiniti, and starring in James McAvoy’s directorial debut California Schemin’, which tells the true story of Scottish rap duo Silibil N’Brains who landed a record deal after pretending to be from California, the Paisley-born actress has been booked and busy.

The morning after she arrived back in London following the final leg of The Testaments press tour (which had its season finale last week), MASSIVE’s social and editorial lead Hannah Stokes sat down with Lucy to reflect on her recent on-set learnings, her favourite memories of California Schemin’, and where she sees herself going next.

HS: The Testaments and California Schemin’ are both out in the world now. How is that for you? How was it it filming those two projects a year apart, and then them just being out at the same time?

LH: It is strange, isn't it? It seems to have come like buses a bit *laughs*. It's honestly so lovely that they're both entering the world at the same time, because in many ways, I don't know if they would exist without the other one. Specifically, I don't know if I could have done TheTestaments if I hadn't done California Schemin’, because every job you do, you kind of grow a bit as a person, you take on things and then that's the new version of you that exists for the next job, and I wholeheartedly believe that California Schemin’ was so informative for me and, and working with James [McAvoy] especially really did set me up for being able to step into the world of The Testaments.

And so now to have them both, it it does feel like two halves of me are being filled, because I've got the half of me that was the books that I read growing up as a kid that are now on screen. And then I've got the other half of me that is the film about my home and the film about the place I'm from and the voice that I'm used to hearing. And so it's really lovely - I've got a lot of love for both of them and the people involved, and I'm so proud that they're both now coming into the world.

HS: It’s so lovely! And I know that the Toronto premiere of The Testaments was the same day as the London premiere of California Schemin’. I was at the London premiere of California Schemin’ and I was like, "Where's Lucy?!” [laughs]

LH: [laughing] I wanted to be there for you! If I could cut myself in two, I would've shipped one straight back home.

The cast of California Schemin’ with director James McAvoy on set at the Barrowlands Ballroom - Courtesy of Studio Canal UK

HS: I bet. How did that day feel for you, the amalgamation of these two big projects that you've been working on, happening at the same time? Was it kind of a pinch me moment?

LH: It really, really was, and what was funny was we were in Toronto for The Testaments, but California Schemin’ started at TIFF, it premiered there. It was a really weird full circle and we spent all day going round doing all the Toronto press at the locations that we'd done the press for for California Schemin’. I remember we even did stuff at TIFF Lightbox and I was like, "Oh my God, I was here with California Schemin’ and they're doing their London premiere today!" And it was really gutting not to be there with them, like it felt like a dagger in my heart. Not to be so dramatic [laughs]. Yeah I was very proud to be there with The Testaments, but I definitely wanted to split myself up that day.

I was following along. I sent, do you know what? Anne Dowd and I sent a video message to the boys [laughs]. We were thinking of them and I was following along and it looked brilliant, and I was very proud of them all.

HS: Yeah, I think it was a very lovely celebration of the film.

LH: I think so.

HS: You were saying that you couldn't have done The Testaments without California Schemin’. What do you think was the biggest learning or advice you took from that set to The Testaments?

LH: I think James McAvoy instilled a confidence in me, but confidence in terms of ‘I have confidence in my own belief on set’, like an assuredness. He’s such an incredible actor, and all of his performance notes were so specific and intricate and I just remember as the filming went on, feeling like I was taking part in a James McAvoy acting workshop.

HS: Wow, yeah.

LH: He's brilliant. And then by the end of it, I just remember feeling a lot more like, oh I can do this. Or like I don't feel as doubtful as I did at the start. I remember one specific piece of advice he actually gave in terms of acting, and I found myself repeating it over and over on The Testaments like a mantra, and it was something along the lines of - I'm probably gonna have to filter out swear words that he said [laughs]. I'll try and distill it down into a family-friendly version.

Lucy Halliday, Samuel Bottomley and James McAvoy on the set of California Schemin’ (via @jamesmcavoyrealdeal)

There was a scene where I had to dance, and I didn't expect it but on the day I was just suddenly so overcome with awkwardness. He was asking about it, he was like, "Why are you feeling awkward?", and I was like, "Oh, people are looking at me.”, and he was like, "Yeah. That's normal. That's the point” [laughs]. But he said (in so many words) "It's only embarrassing if you don't give it 100%. if you're screaming, if you're dancing, if you're doing whatever, if you absolutely go for it, it's not embarrassing at all.” It's only embarrassing when you go halfway and then back out.

And so I found myself all the way through The Testaments, like every single time I had a scene that felt particularly vulnerable or a particularly exposing , I suddenly found myself not feeling those things because I was like, "James said if you give 100%, no one can think anything different." And when we we got to the end of The Testaments, I realised not once did I have a moment on set where I was like, "Oh, I feel awkward”, and I think it's that mantra has genuinely sort of eradicated that for me. And I'm not saying I'm never going to feel awkward on set again. But it's even in instances such as that that he's been so influential. But that's because he's James McAvoy, and any amount of experience of interacting with him as an actor is going to influence you in only the best ways possible.

HS: Yeah. I think its interesting when you said that he made you feel more self-assured, because I feel like all the roles that you've played, Daisy [in The Testaments], Mary [in California Schemin’], and also Lois from Blue Jean, these are very strong female characters. They are very self-assured, especially Mary - she’s the one that grounds the boys, whilst they’re starting to lose their senses of selves, she’s very firm in hers. What do you think draws you to roles like that?

LH: I feel like I really appreciate an accurate, or at least in my opinion, an accurate representation of what it feels like to be a teenage girl. And I’ve had the fortune of playing several of them on screen. But I think whenever I've read those specific characters, I've been able to relate in a sense, to at least be like, "Oh, that's what it was like in my experience," or, "This seems similar to what I felt growing up." And I think it's just because, like many people, as I was growing up I'd see so many sort of caricature weird versions of what a teenager is. And you're like, "Okay. I don't speak like that" [laughs]. My life doesn't look like that. You know all those really jacked 40-year-olds [in movies]? [laughs] And I was in Paisley then, and I was like "Okay, I don't see myself here”.

And so I think in all of those jobs, I've seen an element of realness of what it feels like to be at that point in your life and I really appreciated that. I think getting the opportunity to play characters that feel quite strong or determined and assured I've also really loved, because I think those are such beautiful facets that exist in boys and girls. And so getting to play a strong girl is something that I'm always looking for. Because I think even though we do see a lot of strong females on screen, I think we can still sometimes, like you'll watch something and you're like, "Okay, well, the men have been written really well here, but someone's not really developed the girls as much”.

Lucy Halliday & Samuel Bottomley in California Schemin’ - Courtesy of Studio Canal UK

HS: Yeah, definitely, a lot of female characters on screen just come across like afterthoughts.

LH: Yeah. We even see that in - like what actually stood out for me about California Schemin’ was that the girlfriend wasn't just the girlfriend. She actually had a name and a whole story, like actual meat to her. And I was like, "See, this is great." Like, that's what really appealed to me because so often it, that role can just be distilled down to a superficial, linear, ‘the girlfriend’. Especially if it's a biopic - in reality they were a lot more than that, and they were catalyzing the story in a lot more ways than that. And so that certainly appealed to me for this film.

HS: Yeah, as you were saying all your characters have been strong girls, and all your past roles have been, in different ways, coming of age stories. What do you think that you've learned about your own coming of age through the three roles that you've done?

LH: Ooh, that's a really good question! I think I've learned- I actually admire 14-year-old me a lot more than I probably did at the time or like- gave myself thought to. I don't think I realised how gutsy and headstrong I was. And like still am, but I don't think I realised I had those qualities at all.

And it's actually now when I look back and I think about what I was like in school or even how I got into this industry, and I think like I was a teenager who- I can't remember if I've told you this story. I feel like I've told everyone this story, how I got Blue Jean was because I was teenager that sent a really ballsy email.

*Back in 2022, despite not matching “any” of the casting call description for the part of Lois in Blue Jean (directed by Georgia Oakley, who is helming the upcoming Sense and Sensibility adaptation), Halliday - who didn’t have an agent at the time - emailed the casting director telling them that she was perfect for the role, begging them to let her audition. Two weeks later she was filming alongside Rosy McEwen, and a year after that she won a Scottish BAFTA for her role.

I just even think back to that and I'm really proud of that person, because I don't think I felt particularly that way at the time. I don't think I gave myself thought to it, but now I'm like "Oh, you did that and I don't think you gave yourself enough credit for like actually how determined you were”. I even think back to like my friends and all that and I'm proud of us 'cause I remember we were, like we probably weren't the coolest kids in the scene. [laughs] But we also like, we never changed. I never, ever remember once myself or my friends altering who we were and- don't get me wrong, I think we actually thought we were quite cool. [laughs]

HS: I'm sure you were cool!

LH: [laughing] In our own way, in our own way. But it's even things like that that I admire now looking back. It's like I look at myself now and I look at any sort of self-doubt I have now, whether it be in my strength or just in my life or in the clothes I'm wearing or whatever, and then I look back and I go, "Oh, I don't remember feeling that way at the time." I probably did, but I don't think I gave myself enough credit.

HS: Looking back at your teenage years, and thinking about coming of age, are there any pieces of media that you consumed - films, books, music, that you think have already shaped you as a person, or any that you’ve recently consumed that when you do look back again in say 10 years you think you'll still think about?

LH: In terms of books, I remember The Secret History by Donna Tartt. My friends and I really had a moment with that book, and I think it really made me want to go to a New England college, like I saw a really idealized version of my life after reading that book. I really recently read a book actually that has stayed with me. It was called To Rest Our Minds and Bodies [by Harriet Armstrong]. The most validating book ever, because it's essentially about a situationship for the entire book. But it's kind of like way worse than any of us have ever been. [laughs] Validating! So I really like that book.

I'm trying to think of the films I watched growing up. Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood. I think that film... there's something about female friendships on screen that I don't know if I've ever experienced the ones that I've watched in films. I love my friends. I've had great friendships, but I feel like I always watch films and I'm like, I don't know if I've ever experienced this facet of it. And like that's what always interests me, is that I'm always, I guess, looking to watch films that explore experiences I haven't felt.

Kind of on a tangent, but I've watched [James Gunn’s] Superman every single part of the press tour I've just done, just because it's like done something in my brain. [laughs] Every time. It's like I have to watch it on every plane and everywhere I go, and it's like films do that. You just find a comfort in them.

HS: As an actress who is actively coming of age on set, it must be such a surreal experience to be able to look back and see that formative time of your life solidified on screen. Do you have a favourite memory from the set of California Schemin’?

LH: See, I know what the boys would pick [Halliday is referring to co-stars-turned-friends Samuel Bottomley and Séamus McLean Ross, who play rap duo Silibil N’ Brains in the film]. They would pick the Barrowlands, and I- do agree that the Barrowlands was amazing. It was like watching a real gig, and it was amazing. But honestly, we filmed in Queen Street Station in Glasgow, and that was just so surreal, because I've been in [laughs] that train station so many times. I've been running late for a train in that station so many times. And so to just be, like, on the platform shooting this film, and James McAvoy's there, and you're [laughs] were in a train station. And there was people, it was really busy, 'cause people had trains to get to, and we were kind of filming in a really small area because of so many people had to get around us. And that was, that was definitely very memorable.

But the Barrowlands was fun. [To shoot one of the film’s most memorable scenes, director James McAvoy set up a free gig at the Barrowlands Ballroom, filling the iconic Glasgow venue with 2000 attendees turned film extras, with a setlist culminating in a live rap performance from Bottomley and McLean Ross]. The Barrowlands was crazy, because I just remember thinking, "All these people are here for the film. That's insane." I was very impressed with the boys that day. I was very proud of them. I thought they did amazing.

Lucy Halliday on set at the Barrowlands Ballroom - Courtesy of Studio Canal UK

HS: You've worked with James McAvoy, and you’ve had your first lead role on a big Hulu show based on an iconic book series. What's next for you? Both in terms of what you have coming up, but also in terms of what sort of projects and which directors interest you.

LH: Ooh, I feel like I could give you several answers, because I've got specifics in my head in terms of what I wanna do. I want to do a play, because I've never done it, and I want to do live action Brave.

HS: Would you be Merida?

LH: I wanna be Merida.

HS: Yeah, I can see that.

LH: But then if I'm being real for a second, obviously I just did a book by Margaret Atwood, and I feel like I'd love if I got the opportunity to do more adaptations of the books I read growing up, because I feel like it's so special when you get that experience of- I read The Testaments when it came out, and now I'm in it. That's so strange, and so there's several others that I would love the opportunity to do.

HS: Are there any books that you've read that you were like, "I'd love to star in that"?

LH: Hmm. [laughs] I mean, if they ever made The Secret History. [laughs]

HS: Yeah that's been in talks for ages, an adaptation of The Secret History.

LH: Yeah. I don't know why that one never got made.

HS: I know! I feel like one day it will.

LH: Yeah. We can manifest.

HS: We can manifest.

LH: But also any sort of like interesting- this is the thing, I just always just write interesting. Like Ruben Östlund, I think, is a wildly interesting guy. Justine Triet, she's got a new film that she's filming right now. Yorgos Lanthimos. I could literally just list you directors all day.

HS: Those three are great picks though, they’ve got such distinct directorial visions.

LH: Yeah and I think that's what interests me, is the sort of cross-genre approach, but also everything they're making is so interesting. And that's all I wanna do, is just to be able to feel like I've made something that's unique.

California Schemin’ is available to buy and rent from digital platforms now.