Lydia Wilson is always flipping the script, turning stock characters into charismatic, fully formed people. The sweary best friend in the Anna Paquin satire Flack. A spaceship officer in Star Trek Beyond. Domhnall Gleeson’s f***ed-up little sister in About Time. When she first graduated from Rada, she would roll her eyes at the reductive parts she would sometimes be asked to audition for. “The main thing [would] be something about how they’re physically perceived – ‘a brittle beauty’ or ‘a fragility’.” She pauses, racking her brain for a more damning example. “Actually quite offensive [ones] like, ‘a beauty that doesn’t quite stand up on closer inspection.’”
Her resistance is no surprise – Wilson is far too commanding an actor for bland parts. Whenever she’s performing, the 37-year-old commands a crowd, to the point where I’m surprised just how softly spoken she is in person. At multiple points in our conversation in the bar of The Old Vic theatre, I worry that her voice won’t pick up on my dictaphone. Yet there’s a real strength to Wilson’s presence. Her hair is pulled back and she sports a black T-shirt and leather trousers. Her words, as quiet as they may be, carry a real bite.
