Susan Wokoma, 35, was born in Peckham to Nigerian parents. She made her TV debut on CBBC aged 14, was a member of the National Youth Theatre and trained at Rada. She was named a Bafta breakthrough Brit in 2017. Her TV roles include Chewing Gum, Crashing and Cheaters. Film credits include Half of a Yellow Sun and Enola Holmes. She has extensive stage experience, including Phyllida Lloyd’s acclaimed all-female Shakespeare trilogy, and now stars in Chichester festival theatre’s world premiere of Deborah Frances-White’s debut play, Never Have I Ever.
You’ve concentrated on screen work in recent years. Why return to theatre?
Not that anyone cares, but I sort of semi-retired from doing theatre. It was like “I’m retiring”. “Yeah, whatever, see you later.” I fell in love with acting by doing youth theatre but just wasn’t finding the right challenges, so I quiet-quit. Then my friend Deborah Frances-White, with whom I’ve collaborated a lot on The Guilty Feminist, said: “I’ve written you this amazing part.” I read it and was like, “I’m coming out of retirement, guys!”
What’s the new play about?
It’s all set on one night when two couples meet for dinner. Jacq and Kas [played by Alexandra Roach and Amit Shah] run a restaurant but have to tell Tobin and Adaego [Greg Wise and Wokoma] they’re bankrupt and the place they’re dining in is about to close down. Tobin’s put in a large investment, so it’s about friendship, money, class, race, gender – all the things. It’s like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? but with loads more laughs. At one point, they play the drinking game Never Have I Ever, which makes the night explode with secrets and revelations.
Considering the part was written for you, how alike are you and your character?
I can categorically say that I’m not like Adaego in any respect! Firstly, she’s from a very wealthy family. She went to university, she’s a journalist and activist, all these amazing things that I most certainly am not. I’ve always played my class – either working-class characters or ones where it’s not been mentioned – so this was quite scary. It’s also a meaty part. I’ve never had this many lines in a play. Adaego has more confidence than I’ll ever have, but that’s fun to try on. Hopefully a bit of it will stay with me after the play is done.
How is playing Greg Wise’s wife?
Greg’s excellent to work with. Funny and incredibly playful. He gets to be married to me by day and Emma Thompson by night. What a lucky so-and-so. We all want to be married to Emma Thompson, don’t we? I certainly do.
Weren’t you and castmate Alexandra Roach at drama school together too?
Yeah, she’s a very old mate. We’re a little bit inseparable. It’s disgusting. I was even a bridesmaid at her wedding. We were cast entirely separately, which was a wonderful coincidence. Performing opposite Alex makes me feel 19 again.
Does the acting profession still have a class problem?
If I’m being honest, I think it does. I got into Rada but even with that training, I’ve encountered difficulties. Sometimes it’s more about who you know or realising that certain jobs are possibilities. Artists and directors want to work with people they can see a bit of themselves in. I get that. Everyone likes familiarity and comfort but it means positions of power and decision-making tend to go to the same people. There was a big inclusivity push after lockdown, especially after the awful murder of George Floyd, but a lot of those diversity hires have already been let go. I know that’s looking at race but it intersects with class. I personally don’t feel overly welcome in a lot of buildings. Theatre audiences are still predominantly white. I’m the product of outreach schemes but I was a Tony Blair kid – education, education, education. I couldn’t move for after-school clubs but that stuff doesn’t have funding or exist any more.
You starred in shortform BBC comedy Cheaters last year. How was that experience?
I adored it. Like with theatre, I was becoming a bit disillusioned with TV when Cheaters came along. As soon as I read the script, I was like “Get me in this!“ The episode with the vase – anyone who’s watched it will know what I mean – was the point where I called my agent and said yes. Cast opposite me was Josh McGuire, who was in my year at drama school. I’ve known him for years, so those sex scenes were weird. I was going “Mate, you’re about to see me naked.” But we had an amazing intimacy coordinator. That was the first time I’d worked with one. I cannot believe they used to let actors just get on with that stuff!
Cheaters became a word-of-mouth success. Did that make it extra gratifying?
We had zero press for that show. We’ve joked that by featuring it on Gogglebox, Channel 4 did more publicity for Cheaters than the BBC. It’s a little tiny show with a weird format yet people eventually found it. It was a slow burner but it’s one of the things in my career that I’m proudest of.
It was set in Peckham. How has the area changed since you grew up there?
Peckham is very different now but it felt like full circle. People I went to school with walked by and went “Susan?!” After filming, I was able to hang out with my nephew. My little sister came down to the set. It was all just incredibly local. Things are never filmed in south London, so to be on my manor felt good.
You’re in this autumn’s series of Taskmaster. What can you tell us?
I had the time of my life. I remember, right in the thick of lockdown, feeling sick and tired of not being surprised. Everything was predictably fucking awful. So when Taskmaster came along, I jumped at it. It’s very revealing about your personality and essence. People are often shocked by how competitive they become. I’ve always thought I was a sensible, rational, clever human being. When I watched it back, I was like: “Who the fuck is that?” I became the giddiest animal, yelping and whooping. If that woman sat next to me on the bus, I’d get up and move. But I leant into it and it was very freeing.
You worked with Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Crashing and Michaela Coel on Chewing Gum, before they went stratospheric. What did you learn from them?
I guess I saw acting as a substitute family. Wanting to find a gang, a tribe, be part of an ensemble. I was very drawn to Phoebe because she believed in that too. Even though Crashing was early in her TV career, she and [director] Vicky Jones already ran their theatre company DryWrite. I’d pick Phoebe’s brain about the importance of creating a collaborative environment and a common creative language. In fact, it was through them that I met Deborah, my own big life collaborator. From watching Michaela develop Chewing Gum, I saw how the television process can be arduous – there are so many cooks – but it’s crucial to stand by your creative vision.
Do you get recognised much?
A healthy, pleasant, non-intrusive amount. Everybody’s always very nice. I’m friends with some very famous people and it’s my idea of hell, particularly with cameraphones. I’ve done quite varied stuff and relish looking different, so I’m niche by comparison, which is fine by me.
Your Instagram bio says “handsome”. Why?
My surname is from my dad’s Kalabari tribe in Nigeria. Wokoma translates to “handsome”. When I found that out, the idea of being called pretty or beautiful was like “meh”. But being called handsome? You get it in Victorian novels – “a handsome woman” or “her handsome ankles”. I’ll have a bit of that!
What projects are in the pipeline?
Directing and appearing in a film I’ve been developing for the last few years. It’s a comedy-drama called Three Weeks; we’re shooting this autumn and it’s my directorial debut, which is exciting. It’s about a woman coming to terms with the fact that she doesn’t want to be a mother. She’s in her 30s, realising the truth of watching that ship sail as a choice. But it’s got some laughs, promise.
This Christmas, you’re in the BBC’s star-studded adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s Tabby McTat…
Yes! Recording that was lovely. I’ve played quite a lot of cats, actually. Oh my gosh, maybe I’m becoming typecast. For Tabby McTat, I had to do some miaows. That’s what I live for now.
You went to see Barbie recently. What was your verdict?
To quote Deborah’s podcast, I’m a feminist but… I loved Ryan Gosling! I know there were a lot of other things going on, but he’s so completely brilliant in it. With female writers and directors, there’s a real expectation to make autobiographical work. It was great to see Greta Gerwig create something fantastical, mainstream and poppy because a lot of the time, women don’t get the opportunity to do that.
