In our profile series, Tell Us In 10, we ask cast members and creatives of top London shows to tell us all about themselves in just 10 questions. This week the spotlight is on Rosie Day, who is currently starring in the darkly funny The Girl Who Fell at Trafalgar Studios 2.
1. My route into theatre was…
A casting director asked if I wanted to do a play at the National with my sister and I said no. (I was, for my excuses, only 5) The idea of missing school was what won me round. Somehow many years later here I am…
2. My West End idol is…
I think everything Ria Zmitrowicz does is genius. And I never miss Ruth Wilson on stage, ever!
Ruth Wilson. Photo by Darren Gerish
3. My colleagues would describe me as…
Um, good fun I hope? Or panic-eating Frubes from my unicorn lunch box probably.
4. My favourite show present or past (that isn’t one I star in) is…
I loved Dance Nation at the Almeida, and I’ve never forgotten The Effect at the National. Milly Thomas’ Dust showed me what women can really do on a stage alone. She blew me away.
Billie Piper, Jonjo O’Neill and Anastasia Hille in The Effect. Photo by Ellie Kurtz
5. The career moment I’m most proud of is…
It might not seem big to lots of people but I did a rehearsed reading of a one girl play I wrote at the Park Theatre this Summer. Standing on a stage reading lines I’d written was really really wonderful.
6. The hardest part about my role is…
Rejection. I’ve done a lot of screen work, and trying to break into theatre is hard. I’ve not trained so I’m learning so much on the job, trying to prove I can do it!
7. If I didn’t work in theatre I would be…
A professional gymnast. (in my head) Realistically something with children or coffee … not together that would be a terrible mix.
Will Fletcher and Rosie Day. Photo by Helen Maybanks
8. Something people don’t know about me is…
I’m a professional gymnast. No, probably that I’m not actually a teenager!
9. The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is…
You can’t control life, you can only control how you react to it.
10. The one thing I wish I could tell my younger self is…
Slow down.