Niamh Algar on the new season of Raised by Wolves and what success means to her

Congratulations on Censor being long-listed for a BAFTA Award. What a great start to 2022!

I’m thrilled for director Prano Bailey-Bond, producer Helen Jones, and the whole team. It was such a passion project of mine to be involved in and to see how it’s grown over the year—the response that it had from Sundance, then from London’s Sundance Film Festival when it was released, as well as Mark Kermode naming it as one of his favorite films of the year. I’m proud of the work, and I’m just so thrilled for Prano because she works so hard. She’s very talented and has a very unique filmmaking vision. I can’t wait to see what she does next. It’s such a huge achievement to be even long-listed alone for a BAFTA.

With talent comes recognition. Do you still often have those pinch-me moments, whether it’s a nomination, working with a director or cast you wanted to work with?

I do. You have those moments where you find yourself dropping news. And you’re not doing this intentionally, as you’re just talking about your work, and then you realise—oh my God, I did work with Ridley Scott, my film has been long-listed or nominated for a BAFTA. I was invited to present an award as part of the BAFTA Breakthrough the year before. I was in the room talking with all the talent and thinking about being nominated one year. And then it happened next year.

I’m one of those people who never over-celebrates and never takes anything for granted. People say it’s an overnight success. But ten years of hard work created that kind of overnight success. Having a job and going from project to project, that is the real success for me. Anything that comes with it is a complete bonus. The most rewarding part for me is just sitting on set. I’m so grateful that I get to do the job that I dreamt of doing as a kid, and now I’m getting paid to do it. (laughing)

There also comes an opportunity to work with different people and figure out their ways of working. That can only make you better as an actor. What I’ve learnt about this industry is that it’s all about communication. You have to be quite permeable. You have to be that person that can be open to change. I think that’s always such a challenge because as an actor you don’t have a schedule. Just having to flex that muscle of being able to change anything at a moment’s notice, that’s when you really need to work on yourself as a person.

You’ve built such an array of incredible, complex characters on screen, and you’re known for your versatility. Did the elements that you’re looking for in your roles change throughout the years, and if so, how?

Totally. It’s almost like a coming of age story in your head. That influences the roles. If you were an Alexa, and then you’d say out loud, “I would love to do this,” then you would only need to inadvertently figure out those steps along the way.

When I was a kid, I used to daydream about being an actor and playing different roles. I visualised it before I did it. I think visualising is a big part of my approach to playing characters. When I read the script, I go away and start daydreaming about different scenes and how they might play out and what might go into research for that role. With something like Censor, it was at a time when I was looking for characters that were deeply-rooted in some sort of PTSD. I’ve explored it previously in a TV series called MotherFatherSon with the late Helen McCrory. Billy Howle was in that series as well.

I think when you also learn about something, it staggers your intrigue into wanting to explore more. By doing that, you’re opening up your knowledge of people. For me, it always helps to be more empathetic. When I look at the script, I’m never judging a character. You open the script with an open mind. Of course, there are always some archetypes in a story. If we look at women’s roles and how they’ve changed, they’re no longer just the girlfriend or the wife of the lead. They have a narrative of their own.

I think whenever you begin to mature as a person, your interests change as well as your energy. Right now, I feel like I could have the energy of 10 men, looking for projects that are both physically and mentally demanding. Maybe in ten years’ time, I’ll be saying that let’s just look into roles where she’s just chilling by the window in a grey jumper, thinking about things. (laughing) I’ve got an amazing team around me, and that helps me to decide what projects are worth putting the energy into. It’s very important to have that positivity and clarity around you because it’s a tough industry. There are a lot of things to juggle both in the job and in your personal life. To have people that help you make these choices but aren’t pushing you and where you are maintaining the elements of control, agency and identity is very important.