(L) Coat by MARY KATRANTZOU. (R) Jumper by ALEXANDER LEWIS.
What’s an unwritten rule of acting?
Make it easy for everyone including yourself.
In terms of genre, do you generally prefer a horror film or a disaster film?
Both. I need variety, both in terms of what I watch and what I perform. If I had to chose right now, it would be a subsection of horror – the psychological thriller genre. Like The Silence of the Lambs. I haven’t done one of those for a while.
What was the last or most recent belief that you held for a time but no longer do?
I used to believe that we are all victims of our circumstances. I have only recently realised that you can change your thought processes, your habits & lifestyle choices. Essentially, that you have the power to change your circumstances. You can choose to change your life.
What is a law that shouldn’t be, and what isn’t a law that should be?
If I was President of the country, free parking everywhere, would be the law! And the laws of gravity would be banned, so we could all fly everywhere.
Would you rather play yourself in a film, or write your own part but let someone else play you?
I would rather play the character myself. I’m a performer. It would not be satisfying to see someone else perform a character that I could play.
Dress by KENZO.
What Shakespeare play would you like to see a(nother) modern re-telling of?
Richard III. Hamlet. Othello. There’s so many I would like to see because I do love a modern re-telling of Shakespeare. Obviously I would want the weight and all the details that Shakespeare put into his plays to exist in the modern remake.
Who’s an actor or director whose work you haven’t seen but have meant to for years?
Great questions here! Sylvester Stallone’s work. I haven’t seen the Rocky films. And I haven’t seen his recent, Creed, yet.
Let’s say virtual reality continues to develop such that you can experience a film through the perspective of certain characters in films. If we could retroactively apply that technology, what film character would you want to experience the film through?
I must say that maybe we don’t need that technology, because if a film or play is good, you should be living inside it, experiencing every moment through the characters. I recently saw People, Places & Things, and I was totally inside Denise Gough’s drug addicted character, experiencing the deep pain and the great pleasure. And re-living it vividly after the show. But to answer the question, it would be fun to experience someone who was a total hedonist pleasure seeker, without having to suffer the repercussions, like Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in The Wolf of Wall Street.
What’s something you really wish you knew more about but find too boring or expansive to bother?
I wish I knew more history. I’m really provoked imaginatively when I find documentaries or do historical research for acting roles. But I don’t make enough time to read all the material out there.
If your personal safety was absolutely assured, what expedition or trip or stunt would you pick?
I would explore the bottom of the Indian Ocean to find the missing plane MH370. I was so shocked by this tragic case, because we haven’t found much more than a possible scrap of metal. The bottom of the Indian Ocean is totally unknown territory to humankind.
What purchases bring out your poorest taste or decision-making skills?
Bras! I’m ashamed to say, I haven’t found the “one”! My body keeps changing I go through so many shapes and sizes. They are either unflattering or uncomfortable. They never make me feel sexy.
What is the most recent thing you have taught yourself how to do?
I’ve recently taught myself to use social media. I still have lots to learn but it has been a great way to reconnect with old friends and stay in touch with new ones.
Amara Karan can be seen now in The Night Of on HBO (US). The Night Of will air on Sky Atlantic beginning September 1, with episodes available exclusively on Sky Box Sets (UK). She returns to the second season of Stan Lee’s Lucky Man on Sky1 in 2017 (UK).
As told to Paul Vaughan for TPJ
Creative Director & Photographer: Jessie Craig
Stylist: Francesca Turner
Hair: Roxy Attard using BED HEAD BY TIGI
Makeup: Celia Burton using BOBBI BROWN COSMETICS
