IN CONVERSATION WITH LEWIS GRIBBEN

interview by MAREK BARTEK

AFTA Scotland winner and Screen International ‘Rising Star’ Lewis Gribben will star in Charlie Brooker’s ‘Black Mirror’ on Netflix, which is premiering its seventh season on 10th April, and is currently shooting Amazon Prime’s ‘Blade Runner 2099’, slated for a 2026 premiere. Also this year, he will be seen starring in Ben Wheatley’s ‘Generation Z’, psychological horror ‘The Damned’ , and independent horror feature ‘The Severed Sun’.

You’ve played such a wide range of roles, from psychological horror to dystopian sci-fi and dark comedy. Do you have a favourite type of project, or do you just go where the most interesting roles take you?

I think for me it's just literally what I can get because I'm still an auditioning actor, but obviously I have preferences. I do like psychological horrors, thrillers, things that are a bit messed up, dystopian, and fucked up because it's most interesting to watch, be part of, and see the inner workings of those massive, crazy projects that are a bit darker. But hopefully there is also just a really good script or good people attached to it, like writers, directors, and actors. That usually makes me have a stab at the auditions, and from there I see what I get, because as much as I'd like to create a great career where I can craft it myself, it's all down to the luck of the draw, and if I'm lucky enough to get the cast and the parts, really.

Do you gravitate towards roles that reflect aspects of your own experience, or do you prefer playing characters completely different from yourself?

There's a balance of both. I feel like characters who've gone through similar feelings or emotions in their lives are easier to relate to, play, and access since I get the idea of who they are, and  that makes it more authentic and genuine. But at the same time, now I'd like to do more, where I explore different sides of myself, try those characters that are not necessarily in my wheelhouse, and show that I can be all these different kinds of attributes that maybe I haven't gotten to portray yet, but I'm actively trying to. But I feel like every role has an aspect of you that's in you. You just have to find them and grab them, and that's the gateway, even if  normally you're nothing like the character.

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‘Somewhere Boy’ was truly an emotional role, and your performance struck a chord with people. What was the biggest challenge in playing Danny, and did that experience change how you approach acting?

The biggest challenge was just letting myself be that vulnerable. It took a lot of my own emotions turning into a character who has been locked away for 18 years, who was very vulnerable, who very much didn't understand how the real world works, taking all of that on and trying to discover things that most 18-year-olds already know. He’s been trapped in a house watching 1930s, 40s films and listening to 1930s, 40s music and believing that there are monsters out there. That kind of trauma and realising your whole life is a lie, and all the vulnerabilities and exposure to that was really challenging and took a lot out of me to get there and portray it in a fairly believable, honest way. I tried to really kind of method act where I started to think like the character, or speak like him, even though I knew it was just me acting. But it was a very intense experience. I had a great co-star called Samuel Bottomley, who I worked with before.

It’s made me more picky about what I'd like to do next and roles that really speak to me. I try and find those as much as possible or read things and I just instantly have a good feeling or connection with it. Funny, sad, emotional, hilarious, whatever it is.

Currently in the making is Amazon Prime’s Blade Runner 2099, and you’re one of the four lead cast members! How did you land the role, and what’s it like stepping into such an iconic sci-fi world?

Every audition, you just audition in person or you do the self-tapes, and a lot of the times, after sending the tapes you generally never hear back, so you just kind of forget and all that. It was funny because I auditioned for this in April 2024, then didn't hear back for a couple of months, forgot about it, and then found out they wanted to meet me in person. I did the audition in person for a couple of scenes, and got it. Being in that experience has been just so unreal because it's such a big scale, big budget thing. It’s a trial by fire going into an iconic sci-fi world like that, telling a story not connected to the movies but still carrying the themes and essence of Blade Runner, staying true to that while making it its own original thing, and playing a character people don’t know from the films or books, and trying to make that believable. And, of course, working with people like Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer is a genuine treat and joy, and interesting to see because it's not what I'm used to. It's been a great experience and I'm intrigued to see what people think of it when it comes out.

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You’ve worked with some incredible directors and cast members. Has any of them given you advice or direction that really stuck with you?

I think the best bit of advice I've ever been given was by an actor Douglas Henshall who did a crime show called ‘Shetland’. He said the best thing was just to “not try”. As in, if you're in an emotional scene, don’t try to force yourself to cry and have to feel all these feelings. “The best thing”, he said, “was just to be in the scene, be in the moment and what comes out of it, comes out it.” If you get sad and cry, and you feel these horrible feelings, you will feel it naturally happen to you as you're acting, because if you really believe it, you’ll be able to shut off that part of “Oh, I'm being filmed” or “I have to say my line after he said his” or waiting for that reaction. I try and do that as much as possible. I try not to overanalyse, not intellectualise too much. Obviously, I do some of that during the preparation, but when you go into filming, just be in the moment and do your best.

You have been really open about your autism and dyslexia diagnosis. As an actor, do you feel like the industry is becoming more inclusive? Have you faced any particular challenges or moments where you’ve felt really empowered in your career?

I think it gives great insight into playing characters who are a bit unusual or a bit emotional or different and odd. If you've had those kinds of experiences being different and in high school people weren’t always the most aware or tolerant, and just being young and not fully understanding things, it kind of gives you that baggage and experiences you can draw from. But it certainly gives you a unique perspective and idea of how to play a role, and think of unconventional ways of doing it.

Sometimes it's harder in the sense that if you get an idea about a role, you can sometimes be stuck to it, so trying to be more open can be a challenge. But it's also good for having creative freedom, and one of the usual traits is that if you're obsessed with one thing, you’ll do your utter best in conviction of it. In that way it's a benefit for acting because it's something I'm passionate about. I love doing it, so it keeps me driven and super focused on it.

You are set to appear on Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, a show known for messing with people’s heads. Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about your episode, and what drew you to the project?

‘Plaything’, which is the episode I'm in, in Black Mirror, is about a boy called Cameron Walker who works for PC Zone. He's asked to interview Colin Ripman, who is played by Will Poulter from the ‘Bandersnatch’ episode, about a game. Turns out the game's not actually a game, it’s got real-life organisms in the form of pixelated creatures stuck in this simulation. And he communicates with them and wants to protect them from violence. It was a mad experience of four-week filming, but it's been a huge honour and it's been really great and fun and disturbing and as mental as you can imagine being in a Black Mirror episode is.

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‘Generation Z’ is a Ben Wheatley project, so it’s expected to be intense and unpredictable. What can we expect from the show, and what’s your character like?

Ben Wheatley is a really cool director. I really like his films ‘Free Fire’, ‘A Field in England’, ‘Sightseers’, so it was a real pleasure to work with a director who is very creative and open to do improvisations and let you play the character how you see fit — finding the character for both a scripted and an improvised take of the scene. And working with Anita Dobson, Sue Johnson playing zombies was wild, but it was really fulfilling. And Ben is a genuinely lovely director, and the rest of the cast were lovely to bounce off, as well.

You’ve done quite a few horror projects now, from ‘The Damned’ to ‘The Severed Sun’. Do you love the genre, or is that just how things have worked out? Also, are you a big horror fan in real life?

As you know, I'm lucky enough to get those parts because I auditioned and I was the right person for them, luckily. But I do like horror films and I do like the unhingedness of it because it's all fantasy. Most horror films are make-believe, and so I convinced myself none of it's real, even though it's terrifying. It's a really interesting genre about the darkness and I enjoy the supernatural of it all. There’s also a weird kind of intrinsic cultness that those films, so they're really cool projects I like delving into and getting to be part of those worlds.

Outside of film, you’ve become the face of Chanel’s BARRIE cashmere—how did that come about? Do you see yourself getting more involved in the fashion world, or was this just a fun one-off?

I did a play last year at the Royal Exchange, and was lucky enough to do that, but the theatre doesn't pay the best money. So I really hoped to work on other stuff, and then the campaign came through. They wanted a Scottish person involved because it was a Scottish-made brand, and they just asked me, and I thought, why not do it? It was a unique experience because if you're not used to performing or moving as yourself in front of cameras and all, it’s a very unusual, weird experience.  It's a bit daunting because you are there, but it’s not about you. It's about the clothes and selling them well. So, yeah, it was fun. It was one day in France, I’ve got to wear some really lovely clothes, and BARRIE was really nice to gift me some, which I was grateful for. Would I do more of it? Maybe! I'm open to it.

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Winning a BAFTA Scotland award and being named a ‘Rising Star’ by Screen International is pretty huge. Does that kind of recognition change how you see your career, or do you try not to think about it too much?

It's nice to be acknowledged in that way, when you've done work that people like and think you're worthy of getting a recognition for it, and, of course, it's even nicer when it's by your peers or industry people. But I try not to think about it too much because the career of an actor is a slippery slope; you don't know where you're going to end up. You could do a ‘Black Mirror’ one week and then a really small part in a film the next. I just try to keep doing good work, be the right fit for a character, and just do anything I could do from my side. It's more about loving what I do as a profession and being grateful. Often actors are unemployed; I'm no different from most actors, so it's nice to be recognised. But at the same time, the most gratifying thing is to work and be trusted with a part and to be part of a project that someone believes that you can play a part of. So, I'd say that's more important than the recognition itself.

You’ve already built an amazing career, but is there a dream role or project you’re dying to do? And do you think you’d ever want to direct or write in the future?

I try not to put too much stress or emphasis on what I'd love to do, but if there was one that I could do, it would probably be Star Wars. I love that universe. It'd be great to play a Jedi, but even if it was for just two or three days in a smaller capacity, whatever, just to say, I am part of that. But other than that, I’d like to work with Ken Loach if I could. I know he's getting on a bit, but he's a brilliant realist filmmaker, and I think it'd be great to do something with him or Molly Mae Walker, who did ‘How to Have Sex’. I'd love to work with someone who's making great independent cinema and be part of the next generation of British directors and writers. And if I were to do anything behind the camera — probably production. If I had the right idea and the money, and I got to the point where I could help financially back a film and get it creatively made, I would be up for that.

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TEAM CREDITS:

talent LEWIS GRIBBEN
photography ALAN GELATI at WERTH REPRESENTS
styling BENEDICT BROWNE
grooming OLIVIA COCHRANE at WERTH REPRESENTS using M.A.C. COSMETICS
editor TIMI LETONJA
editorial direction JANA LETONJA
interview MAREK BARTEK