A Rising Star: Ameerah Falzon is the young actress you need to have on your radar.
Kicki Bostic speaks to the actress about childhood fame and her role in the Emmy award-winning show, Hilda.
You’ve probably seen or heard of Ameerah Falzon. She played Jas Salford in the BBC Sitcom, So Awkward, or maybe you saw her onstage in Annie JR or The King and I…With an impressive childhood acting career already under her belt, Ameerah is set to take the industry by storm. She has just finished starring in the last season of multi-award-winning Netflix series, Hilda, which has subsequently been turned into a feature-length film, where she plays the role of Frida. Most recently, she featured in the Polish drama, Infamia, which depicts the often-misrepresented Roma culture, and the actress also has upcoming projects in the pipeline.
The acting industry is not just a world of glitz and glamour and navigating it has had its difficulties as a young woman. When we sat down to discuss her career, Ameerah shed light on experiencing fame from a young age and her biggest role to date.
When did you start acting, and has it always been a career you wanted to pursue?
I started my acting career at a really young age – I started with doing little performances for my family, dancing in the living room and getting pocket money from my grandparents. I was a very theatrical child, and everyone has always said that I am very animated. I went to drama school at five – it was amazing. It was always something that I was looking forward to when I was at school during the week; and I think that outlined the basics for me, especially for theatre. I always had an agency for commercials, adverts and modelling as a little child but acting was always my main thing. When I was seven, I got a new agency, and I started to do musical theatre in the West End. That was great, but very intense and competitive – nonetheless I loved it. When I told my agency that I was interested in getting into screen work, they started putting me forward for a lot of other television programmes.
What is the most difficult part of being an actress?
I believe that in this industry, you do have to be ready for rejection. At a young age it was a hard pill to swallow, especially when you’re still growing up and figuring out things about yourself. It took me a very long time to realise that when you don’t get a role, especially when you are close, you’re not a bad actor. It’s just that you’re not what the producers or directors are looking for. However, rejection also taught me about discipline, self- love and independence. If you’ve been in something before, expectations are very high. It’s such a competitive industry and you never know when you’re going to get your next job. That never really dawned on me earlier on in my career, but it never crushed me to the point of wanting to give it up all together. Whilst it did make me realise that it’s only going to get harder, it also made it a little bit more exciting.
Sunglasses: Burberry
Polo jumper: Burberry
Earrings: Fallon
What was the process of being cast in So Awkward?
When I landed the role of Jas in So Awkward, I was away filming in Manchester for five to six months of the year, for the last seven years. When I was filming that, I was also auditioning for Hilda. I believe I started Hilda when I was around twelve or thirteen years old, and I had never done voice overs before, so that was a whole new side of acting. When I was doing screen and voice overs it made me realise that theatre wasn’t for me anymore – maybe one day I could go back to it. However, I found that my love and my passion lie in screen work, especially with voice acting. Whilst I was filming So Awkward, I was also travelling to London to go to the studio to do the voice overs for Hilda. The production team were very flexible, understanding and supportive of my different roles and my education so they fitted me in whenever they could.
Jas, your character in So Awkward, is a charismatic and fun young girl – how did you find playing her? Furthermore, were there any commonalities between Jas and yourself?
I found myself adopting the humour and characteristics of Jas into my own personality. It was a massive collaboration – I think Jas kind of helped me build my own character. I didn’t realise it at the time.
You have also featured in musicals such as The King and I and Annie JR. – do you have a preference for TV or theatre? What is the preparation like for each role?
For me, theatre is the most complex. There is also no room for mistakes, and the training and rehearsals are very intense. For voice recording, you prepare by yourself. We don’t do formal rehearsals or anything like that. So, before you go in to record you have to do character analysis, read the script and understand the story line. Of course, you can train and rehearse by yourself and with someone else. I always practise with my mum. For television and screen, rehearsals are more relaxed. I prefer the structure and process of prepping for the screen. For So Awkward we did rehearsals maybe six months prior to coming on set to film. The preparation is all very different.
Dress: Anine Bing
Boots: Timberland
Bracelet: Joolz by Martha Calvo
Can you tell me about Hilda and the concept of the show?
Hilda is about a courageous young girl who travels from an enchanted wilderness filled with magical creatures, to a bustling city filled with new experiences and new friends. It’s something I never thought I would be in and it’s a very fun and adventurous show. It’s something I would have definitely watched when I was younger. I think it’s a really cool concept and it was so fun to record. I remember when the first season came out and I saw how they put it all together – it was phenomenal. It was great because there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes apart from voice acting.
You voice the character Frida in Hilda; how would you describe her in three words?
Dogmatic, studious and independent – she’s kind of like Hermione Granger. She was one of my references and inspirations when I was preparing for the role of Frida.
The third and final season was released on Netflix 7th December- although it is an animated series it has proven to be a cult classic with adults. Why do you think it has such mass appeal and what has made it so successful?
I think it’s cool, fun to watch and exciting – it’s also not too juvenile. It appeals to a much wider audience. I would say that that’s quite a rarity with kids’ animation.
Hilda explores themes such as friendship, anti-authoritarianism and racism. Have you encountered any difficulties in portraying a character in a child’s show that explores serious adult issues?
No, I loved it. I felt like it was something that was very much needed, and it was a pleasure to be a part of a series that explored those topics. There was never any difficulty. When we were recording, we were always getting constructive criticism from the directors and producers on how we were handling sensitive topics. Sometimes we would spend an hour discussing how we would approach certain topics and that would help me when I was doing the voice acting.
Hilda has won several Annie awards, Emmy awards and was also nominated for a BAFTA and subsequently turned into a feature length film ‘Hilda and the Mountain King.’ Do you see yourself acting in more films?
One hundred percent, I would love to act in more films. For Hilda, we never really expected to do a film. The fact that we had that opportunity was incredible and I am really sad that the series is ending.
Polo top: The Kooples
Coat: LK Bennett
Trousers: Max Mara
Necklace: Joolz by Martha Calvo
Earrings: Joolz by Martha Calvo
Your two biggest roles to date in So Awkward and Hilda have seen you play the same character over a number of series. How have you found working on projects for such a long period of time?
I was growing up whilst I was acting on both these shows, and I would say that I started to embed some of the traits of my characters. I would put bits of myself into my characters, but I also took things to build my own identity, but you don’t really realise it until later on. I internalised a lot and I guess you kind of become a mould of your characters’ traits and your own.
Are there any particular genres of acting you would like to get into?
I am so open to everything, but definitely sci-fi or horror. Or a series like Euphoria and other shows like that. Something much darker. Comedy is something I would like to steer away from, because I’ve done that. I want a challenge and something completely different; something that people would never expect me to do. I want to be able to look back on my acting career and know that I have acted in a variety of projects.
How have you found the transition from more youth focused productions to adult productions and series?
That was something I was always longing for, because I never wanted to be that person that was stuck or only known for kids’ television. I do like to be versatile, and I always want to try different styles of acting with different story lines. Especially productions that have a deeper meaning or more subliminal messaging for the viewer. That’s why I love Infamia. The Romani culture is one that I am not a part of and had little understanding about before being on the show. It was a privilege to be a part of that. Not only was I proud to contribute to a movement to change people’s perspective on social classes in Europe, but it was also wonderful to learn about it from those who have a relation to the culture.
There are lots of sensitive and fragile topics that I feel need to be portrayed or shown on television, whether it’s controversial or not. I think that the transition was very much needed, and whilst I would always be happy to go back to kids’ television, I am grateful that as I am growing up, I am slowly moving to a different side of acting. I have dabbled with a lot of different types of acting throughout my career, and whilst I have been acting since I was a child, I am forever learning, and I am still trying to find my niche. Acting has always been a passion of mine and I never want to stop doing it.
Sunglasses: Burberry
Polo jumper: Burberry
Leggings: Burberry
Boots: Timberland
Are there any actors that inspire you?
Viola Davis – I would love to work with her, she’s fantastic. There are quite a few actors that inspire me, most of them are black. Zendaya is also amazing.
What would be your dream acting role?
When I watched Euphoria on HBO, I realised that I would love to be in something like that. I would love to be in an HBO series or potentially a movie. I want to be a hugely successful actress in Hollywood!
Dress: Anine Bing
Bracelet: Julez by Martha Calvo
Besides being an actress, you also model and dance – would you want to pursue either more seriously in your twenties?
I am so short, I’m about 5’3. So, whenever I do model it’s mostly for commercials and adverts. I love modelling and I am very comfortable with it, but I do feel that there is an expiration date with doing it as a career – especially for women. However, with acting you can forever evolve and grow. Modelling is something I like but not my main passion. I used to dance a lot when I was younger, especially when I was doing theatre. Though now I just dance for myself! I do also like to sing, and funnily enough it does tend to be a lot of musical theatre, but acting is still my main thing.
What is next for you? Do you have any projects coming up?
I shot Infamia in Poland last year, and it aired on Netflix in August. I thought that the story line was great, and a bit more adult. Next year one of my main goals is to go to America. I just want to see what it is like and see if I would want to move there in future. Due to the strikes the industry is quite quiet at the moment, but my agency is always great with looking for new roles for me. So, whenever I do get the opportunity to audition for something, I take it very seriously and I make it a priority, because you don’t know when you are going to get your next opportunity.
Hilda, Season 3, is streaming now on Netflix.
Photographer: Simona Sermont @simona.sermont
Fashion Stylist: Charmaine McKoy @charmainemckoystyle
Make-up: Rowenna Ayling @rowennamakeup
